Employees of Anna University, private colleges booked in ghost faculty scam
According to DVAC, in 2023-2024, various private engineering colleges in collusion with the officials of Centre for Affiliation of Institutions (CAI) of AU were involved in the major malpractice of projecting false and insufficient number of qualified faculties for affiliation which has a direct impact on the quality of education to students.
CHENNAI: The Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) have booked 10 officials of Anna University, including former and present Director of the University’s Centre for Affiliations, two former registrars and four colleges for malpractice and corruption in the ‘ghost faculty’ scam. Anti-Corruption NGO, Arappor Iyakkam had flagged the ghost faculty issue last year.
According to DVAC, in 2023-2024, various private engineering colleges in collusion with the officials of Centre for Affiliation of Institutions (CAI) of AU were involved in the major malpractice of projecting false and insufficient number of qualified faculties for affiliation which has a direct impact on the quality of education to students.
“Thus, the private engineering colleges, in connivance with private individuals and government officials, have colluded with each other to fraudulently obtain affiliation/accreditation from AU. They fabricated documents and cheated students and parents of Tamil Nadu. They have wilfully granted affiliation to ineligible colleges knowingly also had played a major role in this act of cheating,” the FIR stated.
In its inquiry, DVAC has revealed that this duplicity was seen in 224 of the 480 engineering colleges in 2023-24, while 353 individuals were working as full-time faculty members in more than one engineering college.
The accused include officials of CAI – its former director A Elayaperumal, present director VR Giridev, deputy directors M Chitra and Shiloah Elizabeth, former university registrar G Ravikumar and registrar (in-charge), J Prakash, deputy directors of AU’s Coimbatore, Madurai, Tiruchy, and Tirunelveli wings – Marshal Anthoni, V Malathi, S Brahadeeswaran and S Silas Sargunam.
DVAC has also named professors S Marichamy, Y Ravikumar and S Kannan, and Prathyusha Engineering College in Tiruvallur, Sri Venkateswara College of Engineering and Technology in Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram’s Madha Engineering College, Coimbatore’s Kathir College of Engineering, as accused.