Tamil Nadu to Fill Faculty Posts in High-Enrolment Courses First

Tamil Nadu's Higher Education Department will give priority to filling faculty vacancies in departments with high student enrolment at State-run universities, Higher Education Secretary Dheeraj Kumar told the University of Madras Senate on Friday.

The department has asked all State universities to submit department-wise lists of vacancies along with their teacher-student ratios, Mr. Kumar said while responding to questions from professors at the Senate meeting, which he chaired.

"The government has policy clarity now, and this will be done. We want to give priority to such departments so that when there are crucial shortages, they get addressed immediately through regular faculty intake," he said.

S.S. Sundaram, Head of the Department of History, said the 170-year-old university has a sanctioned faculty strength of 540, but fewer than 175 are currently employed. No recruitment drive has been held in 12 years, and more than 20 departments are running with a single faculty member, he said.

Financial strain

V. Chandra Kumar, Head of the Department of Library and Information Science, noted that the university had presented a deficit budget to the Senate. He said ₹77 crore was withdrawn from its corpus fund earlier this year to settle the terminal benefits of retired employees, bringing the fund down to a little over ₹300 crore.

He sought an additionality grant from the government to cover day-to-day salary and pension expenses for staff and faculty. In response, the Higher Education Secretary said the university, as an autonomous body, should explore ways to raise its own income, and invited members to send suggestions to the Finance Officer or the Registrar. If a shortfall remains, the government will step in to address it, he said.

C. Murugan, Head of the Department of Sanskrit, requested a one-time grant of ₹500 crore to ease the university's financial difficulties. He also flagged delays in extending Career Advancement Scheme (CAS) benefits to university teachers.

CAS delays

E. Murugan, Head of the Department of Physical Chemistry, said CAS files pass through multiple stages of approval even after competent authorities have stamped them, calling the process redundant.

The Higher Education Secretary said past experience had been marked by recovery orders, which were unpleasant for both sides. He said the process has begun in earnest and will be expedited.

S. Santhosh Baboo, Principal of DG Vaishnav College, asked the university to speed up the granting of affiliation to colleges. D. Anand, Associate Professor in the Department of Botany at Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda College, urged the government to implement the Tamil Nadu Assured Pension Scheme soon and place a proposal to that effect before the next Syndicate meeting.