Bharathidasan University faces criticism after VC’s ‘fixed’ appointments

While Vice Chancellor VM Muthukumar, whose tenure ends on June 12 and mandatorily has no power in taking any policy decision on promotion and recruitment (both teaching and non-teaching staff), is said to have intentionally started recruiting as many as 60 non-teaching staff like junior assistant, office assistants, drivers and gardeners by reportedly ‘fixing’ rates for each of these posts. 

University sources said that the VC, without discussing with the senate members, had voluntarily called for an interview which has been scheduled between March 18 and 21. 

Sources said that they had received a good number of applications and the Vice Chancellor had openly ‘fixed the rate’ for each post as Rs 5 lakh for junior assistant and Rs 3 lakh for office assistants. 

Sources also confirmed that those who had paid the sum have only been called for the interview. This had drawn the ire of those who were already waiting for these appointments. 

And, Bharathidasan University Scholars Forum (BDUSF) had taken this issue to the Secretary to the Chancellor seeking his intervention to stop these ‘illegal’ recruitment and order for a fair process. 

“Surprisingly, the Vice Chancellor whose tenure ends in less than three months had not convened the syndicate or Senate meeting even to nominate members for the search committee. However, he had gone to the extent of collecting money for each appointment,” the petition to the Secretary to the Chancellor said. 

“As per the protocol, the Vice Chancellor has to form a search committee before the end of his tenure. But without doing so, he is keen on recruitment which is a lucrative process for him as of now,” charged H Shahul Hameed, Secretary, BDUSF. 

Meanwhile, when DTNext contacted one of the prospective candidates, on condition of anonymity, said that he has been asked to pay the amount by ‘someone’ in the name of the Vice Chancellor before attending the interview. 

Meanwhile, this controversy has created an anti-Vice chancellor waves among the political parties too. The PMK Founder President Dr S Ramdoss, asked the governor to stop the recruitment in the BDU immediately. He has said in his statement that those candidates who had paid the sum were promised to give the appointment order by this month end. “While the Vice Chancellor’s tenure ends in June, he has been recruiting staff and this is for nothing to collecting money,” Ramdoss said.