University of Madras says 60% of its faculty posts are vacant – The Hindu

In a reply submitted during the Senate meeting of University of Madras chaired by Vice-Chancellor S. Gowri on Saturday, the university acknowledged that 60% of its sanctioned posts were vacant. The replies were sought by Madhavaram MLA S. Sudharsanam, who is a member of the Senate.

According to the data furnished, 57.7% of the 513 teaching posts and 60.8% of the 1,357 non-teaching posts were vacant. In total, 1,121 of the 1,870 posts were vacant, the statement said.

Among the teaching staff, maximum vacancies were in the associate and assistant professors cadre. A total of 177 of the 290 (61%) assistant professor and 101 of the 129 associate professor (79.3%) posts were vacant.

Pending funds

Filling up of vacancies and the university’s financial position dominated the discussion at the Senate meeting.

The replies submitted at the meeting to the questions of Mr. Sudharsanam also showed that ₹165.77 crore of additional grants from the State government for the years 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 were pending. Owing to the non-release of funds, the university said it had to remit ₹16.37 crore from its Endowment Fund to meet salary and pension related expenses.

The university officials also highlighted that admissions to the Institute of Distance Education, one of the important sources of revenue for the university, had fallen drastically due to new regulations of the University Grants Commission.