Commissioner of Technical Education Praveen Kumar on Friday walked out of the Syndicate meeting of the University of Madras after a discussion on the Action Taken Report was disallowed. He had sought correction to the minutes of the previous two meetings. Action taken report is generally discussed as the first agenda in a meeting. As this was not allowed, Mr. Kumar walked out. Later, the appointment to the faculty posts of the National Centre for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology was taken up.
The Syndicate approved the appointments to the posts in the centre without Mr. Kumar’s participation. He, however, refused to comment on this.
The participants, who included 24 university officials and the Higher Education Secretary, gave the approval. Only two members objected, sources said. The appointments were opposed by a few members, who felt that the selection process did not comply with the norms of the University Grants Commission.
“The candidates were selected based on the qualification criteria, as advertised by the university. Those who believed they had been wronged or their qualifications were overlooked have the option of seeking legal remedy,” a senior official of the university said.
On concerns raised by the Commissioner of Technical Education about the gaps in the recording of the minutes of the two previous meetings, the official said minutes were recorded in a certain manner and discussions leading to the deferment of a discussion were usually left out. “There is room for improvement in the procedure but that does not mean that the present method is incorrect,” the official said.