The 160-year-old University of Madras is reportedly in dire straits as far as its finances go. According to its teachers’ association, the university has been breaking its fixed deposits to pay the salaries of its employees.
On Thursday, the Madras University Teachers’ Association (MUTA) held an hour-long black flag demonstration on the premises seeking immediate action to resolve the acute financial crisis faced by the institution.
“Twenty days ago the registrar (in-charge) was trying to get the Higher Education department to sanction ₹40 crore ‘block grant’ due to the university. When I asked him about the status of funds in the university, he said there was only ₹50 lakh in the university account,” MUTA’s general secretary G. Ravindran informed his colleagues during a black flag demonstration on Wednesday. MUTA also expressed apprehension that the government’s proposal to deploy 300 surplus teachers from Annamalai University to Madras University would increase the financial burden.
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‘No research funds’
The professors blamed the university authorities for not releasing research funds.
Rita John, head of Department of Theoretical Physics, said the science departments in the University’s Guindy and Taramani campuses received the highest amount of research funds.
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“We have generated research funds on a par with global universities but unless the funds are given in time we cannot do research,” she said. The Departments of Biophysics and Biochemistry had over a dozen projects from DBT, ICMR and DST. “There was delay in purchase of equipment and we could not carry out research,” said Biophysics professor V. Elango.
Biochemistry professor P. Karthe said he could not access the next phase of funds from the central departments as the University had not issued the utilisation certificate for the earlier phase of funding.
These delays could have been avoided had a V-C been appointed, the professors said. One of MUTA’s demands is an inquiry into the financial irregularities by a sitting judge.