CHENNAI: Within weeks of Bharathiar University Vice-Chancellor A.Ganapathi's arrest on graft charges, the University of Madras is likely to look into the appointments made during the tenure of previous Vice-Chancellor of the University, Professor R.Thandavan. In a syndicate meeting held on Monday, the varsity decided to launch a full-fledged inquiry on the irregularities in the appointment of Dayanidhi as the assistant professor, Department of Vaishnavism in 2014 after the fact-finding committee found anomalies in the selection.
“Apart from questions over qualifications, there were also discrepancies in the way in which the marks were entered during the interviews,” revealed the fact-finding committee's report. The committee also found merit to the observation that the marks have been manipulated and one member of the committee had not signed the minutes.
“The university likely to look into the appointments made during the tenure of the previous vice-chancellor. The audit report has raised objections to several appointments, including that of a nurse and a campus medical doctor. We will take action as per the rules,” sources from the university said. However, the medical doctor has obtained a stay over a syndicate decision to suspend him. When asked whether a vigilance enquiry will be ordered to probe the appointments, the officials said it will be known after finalising the minutes of the meeting.
A syndicate member said the enquiry should be extended to the appointments made during the tenure of Mr.Thiruvasagam when over 100 non-teaching appointments were made during the DMK regime. In another move, the Syndicate also decided to not to give its approval for the appointment of R.Geetha as Principal of the Meenakshi College for Women as the appointment was not in accordance with the regulations followed by the university.
“The college has selected the Principal without the V-C nominees, which is not in accordance with the Principal selection procedure followed by the University. The college management followed the UGC regulations 2010, which were not adopted by the University at the time of appointment,” sources said. “Now, the university has adopted the UGC regulations 2010 and if the college management selects its Principal based on the regulations, the University will approve the appointment,” they added.
