Madras University Teachers Association alleges financial bungling in university

There was a good turnout for the protest organised by Madras University Teachers Association (MUTA). President of MUTA, G. Ravindran, said, “It is for the first time in the history of the university that it is witnessing such an acute financial crisis. We suspect corruption running into crores of rupees. The former vice-chancellor of the university might be responsible for the plight and we want a CBI inquiry.” He also said that the resources of the university were being misused. 

The second demand by the group was immediate appointment of the VC. 

“A panel was formed to identify the names for the VC post, but, so far, it has not finished the process. We want a new panel to be set up for the same purpose,” Ravindran said. 

According to the protesters, authorities have decided to redeploy 1,000 excess staff from Annamalai University, to various other universities across the state. 

“Each University is unique and has a different style of functioning. It does not make sense to reassign staff from one university to another. Moreover, Madras University is going through its own set of problems and the re-assignment will only complicate the situation.” Earlier, the non-teaching staff of the university also held a protest. 

A few months ago, the members of the Association of University Teachers (AUT) had protested demanding the appointment of vice-chancellors and finance officers.