Tamil Nadu: Faculty duplication, 60 Engg colleges may lose affiliation; Read to know more

Chennai: A recent probe found that 211 professors have given multiple entries to fill over 2000 positions in engineering colleges across Tamil Nadu. The issue came to light after Arappor Iyakkam revealed that 353 individuals were simultaneously employed in multiple colleges in 2023-24. Anna University launched a probe into it and has said that it will summon the 60 colleges involved. If these colleges were found to be involved in wrongdoings, the university would suspend their affiliation temporarily and 211 faculty members would be banned from teaching.

The same professor worked as a full-time faculty in 11 colleges fraudulently

Chennai-based Anti-Corruption NGO – Arappor Iyakkam exposed alleged fraud in Anna University-affiliated Engineering colleges. The same professor used his photo with a beard in one Engineering college and without a beard in another. As many as 353 teachers, at 224 colleges under Anna University have committed fraud.

The modus-operendi

On the website of the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), each professor is assigned a unique ID. Accordingly, a person working in one college cannot work in another college. However, the Arappore Movement has released evidence that the same professor is working as a full-time employee in more than 10 colleges by making fake entries without providing a proper Unique ID.

Speaking to the media in this regard, Anna University Vice-Chancellor Velraj admitted that the allegations of the crusade movement were true. Velraj informed that only 189 professors were working on 2000 posts.
“Where there should be 52 thousand 500 professors, there are less than 2000 professors. Instead of those 2000 professors, these 189 people have gone and worked in many colleges individually. One has worked in up to 32 colleges. Aadhaar numbers have been given interchangeably in self-declarations. We found this by taking their birth dates. Action will definitely be taken against those colleges too”

Arappor Iyakkam seeks appropriate action against professors and Engg colleges.

The Arapor movement also insisted that appropriate action should be taken against the private colleges and professors involved in the malpractice. While Anna University’s Vice-Chancellor Velraj may have given the information that the irregularities in the appointment of professors were true, the Arappore Movement said that only if the Tamil Nadu Higher Education Department and the Governor directly intervene in this matter, such irregularities will not take place in the future.