Annamalai varsity to seek govt bailout, won't cut pay

CHENNAI: The cash-strapped Annamalai University has decided to put on hold a proposal to retrench staff and cut salaries, and will instead approach either the state government for a bailout package or financial institutions for loans to tide over the crisis. The university's syndicate, which met in Chennai on Friday, also suggested constituting a three-member committee to deal with the financial mess.

The decision is aimed at ending the standoff between the management and the staff, which forced the university to close the campus indefinitely. Emerging from the syndicate meeting, vice-chancellor M Ramanathan said: "Even though there is a financial problem, the syndicate felt it is not advisable to retrench staff or cut salaries now. It authorized the management to look for other sources of funding to meet the expenditure." He said he would approach the state higher education department for help.turns from here The agitating staff members, however, demanded an assurance in writing.

The university's month-long winter vacation for teaching staff and students began on November 14. An announcement on conducting a few practical and theory examinations that were given a miss due to the strike will be made on Monday, Ramanathan said.

To manage the financial crisis in the university, which has about 34,000 regular students in courses like engineering, dental, medicine, arts and science, the syndicate asked the administration to set up a three-member high-level committee, comprising a retired judge, a retired vice-chancellor and a financial expert. Waking up to the poor financial situation, the state's only unitary university recently announced plans to prune staff and cut salaries by up to half, triggering protests. "We are unable to pay even salaries," Ramanathan said.

A disproportionately high staff strength coupled with the burden of implementing the sixth pay commission's recommendations had left a hole in the university's finances. Moreover, the administrative staff here enjoy higher perks than their counterparts in other varsities, in terms of scale of pay, regularization of temporary posts and promotion. Syndicate sources said highly influential labour unions were behind such an 'unusual' situation. However, K Mathialagan, co-convener of the joint action council formed by the teaching and non-teaching staff, said at least 6,000 staff members were added in the last one decade despite protests from associations. "Nearly 13,324 staff members work for the varsity now. Their livelihood is in jeopardy," he said.

Source:The Times Of India