Tamil Nadu Federation of University Faculty Associations has condemned punitive action taken against two faculty members of Anna University for speaking to the media regarding inordinate delay in appointment of Vice-Chancellor for their university.
Terming the punishment of withholding the annual increment for an year as vindictive, the executive committee of TANFUFA, which met here on Saturday, opined that it saw the move as a tactic of Higher Education department to prevent academicians from talking about various irregularities and other issues in their institutions by making the punishment as a deterrence.
In a statement to the media signed by forum president I. Arul Aram, who happens to be one of the two AU faculty members who faced the action, and its secretary K. Sadasivam, the federation has demanded that the punitive action be dropped.
The forum has also urged the government not to defer the routine Career Advancement Scheme (CAS) promotions of faculty members, which has been delayed for years in many universities, and demanded increased transparency in the implementation of CAS.
Other resolutions passed by the executive committee of the forum included the demand that only academicians and not bureaucrats be appointed in the search committees for Vice-Chancellor and the posts of Vice-Chairman and Secretary in Tamil Nadu State Council for Higher Education.
It has also demanded all the universities to adopt the method of appointing heads of the departments on a rotational basis among Professors and Associate Professors in the respective departments. In the absence of Professors or Associate Professors, Assistant Professors could be considered for the post, it said.
The federation has also opposed the implementation of biometric attendance system for faculty members, by stating that it did not go well with academic freedom.
Self-appraisal
Similarly, it has also demanded that the system of self-appraisal in Manonmaniam Sundaranar University be de-linked from annual increment, which according to the forum is a fundamental right of all the faculty members.
On the disciplinary enquiries levelled against serving and retired employees, the forum has appealed for speedy completion of these enquiries so that the employees concerned were not left in the lurch for long.
