The Syndicate of the University of Madras has resolved to terminate the services of five persons who had been appointed to its medical centre.
According to the minutes of the Syndicate accessed by The Hindu, “The Syndicate resolved that the appointment of the staff in the medical centre and the counsellors be treated as null and void and be terminated from the university service henceforth as their appointments were not in accordance with the rules in force and the G.O.”
The resolution was passed in August based on the objections raised during the audit of the university’s accounts.
The university’s Senate had approved seven categories of posts on October 25, 2014, though the posts were not sanctioned by the State government. Also, the university’s calendar updated up to 2016 did not mention adopting the State’s Medical Services Rule. Neither do the university’s statutes contain the service rules regarding medical services. Nor was there an indication of these rules being adopted by the Syndicate, the audit had pointed out.
Huge expenditure
The university was incurring as salary component an expense of ₹46,36,800 every month, which does not include dearness allowance, the audit found.
Further, the government order used for fixing salary for the medical officer pertained to homoeopathy, whereas an allopathic doctor had been appointed. Also the rules for nursing staff pertained to the staff nurse of Chennai Corporation and for psychological counsellors, the TN Jail Service rules were used, the audit stated.
Ever since the appointments were made by the then Vice-Chancellor R. Thandavan, the Madras University Teachers Association (MUTA) had maintained that such appointments must first get the Syndicate’s approval. The normal procedure is that such decisions are tabled in the Syndicate and once their approval is received it is conveyed to the Senate.
The V-C had placed it before the Senate, which is a larger body comprising college professors from affiliated institutions, which does not have the authority to approve of such appointments.
MUTA members, who had objected to the appointment from the beginning, said it was probably for the first time that the university had decided to terminate appointments.