The University of Madras has formed a four-member committee headed by a former director general of police to frame charges against 37 university staff members for allegedly manipulating examination results in 2011.
“The committee, led by former DGP C.L. Ramakrishnan, will frame charges against seven superintendents of exam centres and 30 section and assistant officers for manipulating the results of the May 2011 examinations conducted by the Institute of Distance Education and for procedural lapses in the June 2011 BE/B Tech exams,” said G. Thiruvasagam, Vice-Chancellor of the university.
Talking to reporters on Thursday, he said the committee would frame charges within a month. The Syndicate committee probing the exam malpractices had earlier recommended that seven superintendents be charged under Section 17B of the Tamil Nadu Civil Services Act, which could even mean dismissal from service, and the 30 staff members under Section 17A, which would result in increment cuts.
After the charges are framed, the staff would be given 15 days to give an explanation after which the Syndicate nominated one-man commission of K. Aludiapillai, former IAS officer, would conduct an enquiry on an individual basis, the Vice-Chancellor said.
The university would start five new departments - social work, women studies, bio-informatics, network systems and material sciences - in the coming academic year, Mr. Thiruvasagam said.
Already there were 70 departments and the university was in the process of selecting 150 faculty members to fill vacancies in various departments.
To cross-check details handed over by the affiliated colleges at the time of inspection on faculty strength and infrastructure, the university has decided to send inspection teams after six months to find out if the colleges had acted on the compliance report.
Moreover, the details of the departments, seats and faculty qualifications in every department of all the affiliated colleges would be posted in the university website soon so that students and parents could see for themselves the facilities and quality of faculty before seeking admissions, Mr. Thiruvasagam said.
