Chennai: The appointment of the registrar in-charge in the Tamil Nadu Teachers Education University (TNTEU) in Chennai has raised a storm in the academic circle. The government has not appointed a regular registrar for seven years and academic credentials were allegedly overlooked while appointing the registrar in charge, thereby sparking controversy within and outside the university.
Established by the then Karunanidhi government with a great vision, the relatively young varsity continues to be in the news for all the wrong reasons. With five departments, it has only PG courses (M Ed - Master of Education) besides M Phil and PhD while UG programmes are offered only at the affiliated colleges. There are 642 affiliated colleges, of which seven are government-run and 14 aided while the rest are self-financing institutions. Once in three years, the faculty visit the affiliated colleges for verification.
For the last three months, the university is running without a Vice-Chancellor. In early February, Professor PC Nagasubramani, whose credentials have come under the cloud, was appointed as the registrar in-charge. Faculty in the varsity and affiliated institutions are shocked at the development since it had overlooked seniority and academic credentials. Right from his entry into TNTEU as a faculty, Nagasubramani's eligibility has been questioned. Before his elevation as registrar in-charge, Syndicate member, Dr P Natesan called for withholding his promotion.
“Some of us have received an advocate notice regarding the promotion of Prof PC Nagasubramani and we are shocked. We request your good self to withhold all the activities regarding promotion of Prof PC Nagasubramani and the same may be proceeded on verification of the genuineness of certificates,” he wrote to the then registrar, warning that any initiative regarding his promotion would be treated as illegal.
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Advocate and RTI activist T Rajesh Kannan has unearthed the certificates pertaining to Nagasubramani's teaching experience, which clearly showed discrepancies. He submitted certificates from two institutions, one of which is a PG Assistant at a teacher training institute and not a college. In his petition to the former VC, N Panchanatham, the advocate-activist, submitted the documents obtained through RTI and requested that an inquiry be conducted. He, however, had been promoted to Professor's post despite a dissent note by the Director of Collegiate Education, M Easwarammurthy.
“As far as this candidate (Nagasubramani) is concerned, several complaints were received from existing syndicate members. It has to be reviewed,” Easwaramurthy had written in his dissent note. However, other members of the Screening-cum-Evaluation Committee, including D Karthikeyan, IAS, Principal Secretary, Higher Education Department, Kakarla Usha, IAS, Principal Secretary School Education Department, and N Latha, Director SCERT, gave their assent for his promotion. Thus, he was promoted to registrar in-charge.
It is the Higher Education Department that plays a vital role in the appointment of the registrar. The charges against Nagasubramani are very serious and the department officials are not unaware. Yet, they have chosen him for consideration other than merit. The in-charge postings of Registrar and Controller of Examinations are ruining the infant university,” said a source familiar with the development. Despite several efforts to get a reaction from Prof Nagasubramani, he did not respond to phone calls, text messages and e-mails.
Unlike other universities, the academic profile of the faculty has nothing except their designation and department. Instead of their list of publications – books or articles in peer-reviewed journals, and from where they have completed their studies, what is shown is only their photographs.
Now, there is a growing demand for transparency and accountability to stem the rot that has set in. In an open letter, principals and teaching faculty of affiliated colleges have called for an end to the pernicious practice of “In-Charge Postings”, which is “providing space for rampant corruption and other malpractices.” The question uppermost in every academic's mind is whether the dream project of Karunanidhi be allowed to die under a DMK government.
