‘Salaries of those hired after 1996 not covered by grants’ CHENNAI: University of Madras on Saturday presented a budget with a deficit of ?84.92 crore for 2019-20, sparking concern about the finances of the 162-year-old institution and the possible impact it may have on student fees that have remained unchanged for nearly 15 years.The university is in a situation where costs are rising, but it has not been able to increase the fees. A resolution passed by the syndicate and senate to increase the fees was delayed by the governor’s office which wanted to know the social impact of the move.Last year’s budget had a deficit of ?61.02 crore on a total budget of nearly ?250 crore, according to reports.At a meeting, the senate resolved that the university would have to use its resources properly and look to increase the revenue to make good the deficit. Professor S Karunanidhi asked how the deficit was going to be made up and sought for an action plan.Professor Manivasakan said the funds to pay salaries would only last two or three months, adding that the university could be hurtling towards a situation similar to that faced by Annamalai University Senators asked vice-chancellor P Duraisamy, a distinguished economist, to take action to stem the fall and present a white paper on the finances.One of the main reasons for the current situation, vicechancellor P Duraisamy said, was due to the implementation of the Seventh Pay Commission recommendations that had increased the salary bill.Duraisamy said, “The state government has been requested to support the pension and retirement benefits under the old pension scheme”. Sources said ?30 crore to ?40 crore had been sought from the government.The objections raised by the local fund audit, a process in which use of funds sanctioned by state and central government agencies are questioned, were also tabled at the senate meeting. Of the 73 audit objections raised, many have existed since 2004, but Duraisamy said the number of objections had dropped during his twoyear term.Many of them dealt with improper appointments in the teaching and non-teaching wings. “We are paying salaries to non-teaching staff to the tune of ?56 crore, but we are only eligible for ?36 crore. In some cases, the stance of the university and auditors is different,” he said. The recruitment of assistant registrar/deputy registrar was not allowed as the university did not follow a government order to recruit 50% from the open market, he said.Another major issue, Duraisamy said, was that the government had approved posts filled as per vacancy list prior to January 1996, but salaries for those recruited after that have not been covered by government grants.Professor Jothi Sivagnanam demanded that the audit report include info about the total objections pending and the action taken, while professor Ramu Manivannan said the objections were due to financial abuses and urged Duraisamy to take action against past offenders.Objections had been raised against the running of various centres, professor Manivasakan said and suggested adopting minimum qualification requirements to curb irregularities in appointments.Expressing confidence that the crisis could be resolved, professor M Srinivasan requested the university to fill all teaching staff vacancies as even Supreme Court has given the nod.Professor S Karunanidhi said an alumnus of the university had donated ?80 crore for construction of a hostel many years ago and requested that the hostel be named after the person. “This would encourage more alumni to donate,” he said.

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