LF audit objects to recruitment of librarian, physical director of Periyar University; AUT demands stern action

LF audit objects to recruitment of librarian, physical director of Periyar University; AUT demands stern action

The Local Fund (LF) audit objected to the recruitment of librarian and physical director of Periyar University, claiming that the recruited persons were not qualified at the time of appointment as per University Grants Commission (UGC) guidelines. The Association of University Teachers (AUT) demanded that the Chancellor and Tamil Nadu Governor take stern action on this issue.

The LF audit report for the year 2022-23 that was submitted by the Regional Joint Director of LF Audit in July 2024 said that M. Jayaprakash was recruited to the post of university librarian. As per the UGC regulations and as per G.O. Ms No. 5 of the Higher Education Department dated January 2021, vide clause 4.7 III, the university librarian norms say “at least ten years as a librarian at any level in a university library or ten years of teaching as an assistant/associate professor in library science or ten years of experience as a college librarian.”. But Mr. Jayaprakash possessed only eight years and four months of teaching experience as assistant professor and five years and five months of experience as a college librarian at the time of his appointment as librarian. So he has not fulfilled the above-mentioned UGC norms. Hence, he is not qualified at the time of his appointment as university librarian and the appointment without prescribed qualifications is objected in audit. No entries were made in his service register for genuineness of certificates and the Roaster register was not shown to audit, the report claimed.

AUT State president M.S. Balamurugan said that with serious concern, AUT brings the following conscious and contumacious brazen violations of the UGC Regulations in terms of the mandated qualified and approved service period required and the rules of reservation in vogue in the appointment of librarian and Director of Physical Education at Periyar University, despite the illegality being recorded by the LF Audit in its report and the Special Audit, constituted by the government. During the time of advertisements released in December 2021 for these two posts, there had been public outcry against these posts being advertised in General Turn (GT), as there were earlier recruitments in 2004 for these posts in GT. These posts should have come under the SC category in the 100-point roster and SC(A) in the 200-point roster. But neither was done and again these posts had been allotted in GT, not only in brazen violation of both but also consciously strangulating social justice in Tamil Nadu. It was a conscious and contumacious violation of rules of reservation against social justice, which is proved by the fact that the incumbent University administration audaciously refused to make available the consolidated roster register to the LF Audit for scrutiny, Mr. Balamurugan added.

“The same is the case with K. Venkatachalam, appointed as Director of Physical Education, who had only 7 years of qualified service at the Constituent College at the time of his appointment, and his other service period, rendered at a self-financing college, which would not stand testimony to the mandatory requirements of G.O. No. 374 of the Higher Education Department, dated November 14, 2006, was illegally taken into account to cover up the requirements of the UGC Regulations. In this context of rampant conscious violations under the incumbent VC, left unscathed by any rule, including the UGC Regulations, 2018, which are apathetically blinked at with indifference by the ex-officio, government-nominated members, including the three nominees of the Governor on the Syndicate, which had approved these brazen illegalities”, Mr. Balamurugan alleged.

Demanding an independent inquiry into this issue, the AUT president demanded to annul the alleged two illegal appointments forthwith to redeem social justice and the amount of Rs. 1.30 crore paid to the two as salary should be recovered. Keep the incumbent Syndicate under suspended animation and immediately terminate the extension of service to the incumbent VC so as to have the inquiry the required freedom. All the members of the Syndicate, who approved these illegalities, should be brought under the rigorous inquiry and a special officer to run the university administration should be appointed, Mr. Balamurugan added.

When contacted, Periyar University Vice-Chancellor R. Jagannathan was unavailable for comments.