TN forms panel to revise block grant to 10 state univs

TN forms panel to revise block grant to 10 state univs

Ragu.Raman@timesofindia.com 04.12.2024

Chennai : In a first step to revive financially struggling state universities, the state higher education department formed a seven-member committee to revise block grant to 10 state universities, including the University of Madras and Madurai Kamaraj University. Block grant is the funding from the state govt to all state universities to cover the salary of the sanctioned posts by the govt. Many state universities are struggling to pay salaries and pensions to their staff and retired staff members due to insufficient funds. 

The committee, headed by secretary (expenditure), will include the commissioner of technical education, commissioner of collegiate education, additional secretary (finance), deputy secretary (universities) of the higher education department, director-general of audit or his representative, and member-secretary of Tamil Nadu State Council for Higher Education as members. The committee was given three months to determine the revision of block grants from 2025-26. “They will consider staff strength (teaching, non-teaching) sanctioned by govt, income and expenditure trend analysis, net deficit, scale of pay recommended by state pay commission and University Grants Commission and norms on faculty-students ratio,” a govt order issued by higher education secretary K Gopal said. 

“Though govt is not obliged to fund for salary or pension of the university suggesting a framework for sustenance of the universities,” the order added. The committee constituted by the State Planning Commission to evaluate the financial position of state universities recommended revising the block grant once in five years for all state universities. The block grant was previously revised in 2015-16. “The state universities are burdened by pension liabilities. The corpus fund of the University of Madras is not even able to cover 50% of pension liabilities. Other universities like Madurai Kamaraj University are also facing the same problem,” said P Duraisamy, former vice-chancellor of Madras University. “This move may help to resolve the financial crisis to some extent. 

However, they have to form a committee to resolve financial issues of state universities and suggest alternative ways for generating revenue,” he added. The order also asked all registrars of state universities to submit the details for fixing the block grant. State govt is not giving block grant to Anna University and Tamil Nadu Teacher Education University citing surplus revenue. Professors from Anna University said the university’s revenue declined following the decision to give all pass to students who had arrears. “The university used to generate ₹400 crore by conducting arrear exams. Without compensating for the revenue loss, the state govt declared all pass during 2020. We will also meet the fate of other universities if state govt does not give block grants,” said a professor of the university .

Crackdown on fake embassy certs in NRI quota med admissions

Crackdown on fake embassy certs in NRI quota med admissions

 PushpaNarayan@timesofindia.com 04.12.2024

Chennai : Touts have been actively working to forge embassy and consulate certificates for undergraduate and postgraduate students applying under the NRI quota, Tamil Nadu health minister Ma Subramanian said here on Monday. The health department has filed a complaint with Chennai city police commissioner A Arun seeking an investigation and action against the candidates who submitted fraudulent certificates. Up to 15% of the seats in self-financing medical colleges and private medical universities are set aside for the NRI quota. These seats are reserved for students with NRI/ OCI/PIO status. To apply under this category, students must provide documents that show their parents or relatives (one of the eight categories, such as sibling, grandparent, uncle or aunt) are living abroad. 

A week ago, the medical selection committee discovered that eight MBBS aspirants had forged embassy certificates. Among these, four candidates were allotted seats in self-financing colleges. Additionally, 47 doctors submitted fake embassy certificates with their applications for various postgraduate courses under the NRI quota. “The candidacies of all these doctors were cancelled. Legal action will be initiated against them,” he said. At least half a dozen embassies/consulates of countries, including those of the US, Dubai, Singapore, Australia and Kuwait, replied to confirm the “ingenuity” of the certificates submitted by these candidates. “Producing a fake certificate is a punishable offence. An investigation is under way by the police to find out who prepared and issued the certificate,” he said.

Officials in the selection committee confirmed that they received fake certificates from doctors in 2023. “At least 20 doctors were made ineligible in 2023. We did not allow them to take part in counselling but did not file a police complaint,” said a senior official. Parents and counsellors said touts and agencies were calling candidates offering fake certifications for “a fee” up to ₹1 lakh. “My brother refused to encourage touts. But they told us  how many candidates have been successfully allotted seats in self-financing medical colleges and deemed universities. Everything happens over phone calls,” said R Murali, whose nephew is awaiting a postgraduate seat.

Student counsellor Manickavel Arumugam said the state could have stopped the practice if they had initiated action against students earlier. Legal experts suggest filing cases with the medical council for doctors who forged the certificates. “It is an ethical violation, and doctors can be debarred from practice,” said former TN State Medical Council president Dr K Senthil. 

HC stay on NRI quota forgery case stalls MBBS seat cancellation

Chennai : One of the four MBBS candidates, whose admission was cancelled for forging an NRI certificate from the embassies/consulate, got a stay from the Madras High Court, said health minister Ma Subramanian. While admission to three seats in two self-financing colleges was done during the stray round, the state is working to get the stay vacated, he said. An official in the selection committee said if the seat is vacated, they have to seek permission from the National Medical Commission and the courts to admit a candidate to this vacant seat, as the deadline for admission to the undergraduate medical council is over

Courts need not interfere in transfers of govt staff: HC

Courts need not interfere in transfers of govt staff: HC 

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 04.12.2024

Chennai : The power of transfer vests with the competent authorities of the govt department concerned and courts need not interfere when it is exercised in the public interest, the Madras high court has said. “Importantly, courts cannot run or interfere with public administration in a routine manner,” a division bench of Justice S M Subramaniam and Justice M Jothiraman said. A writ against a transfer can be entertained only if such a transfer order is issued by an incompetent authority having no jurisdiction or if allegations of mala fides are raised, the court said. 

“Routine administrative transfer would not provide cause for an employee to institute a petition before the courts. Post or place can never be the choice of an employee,” the judges said. Transfer guidelines are concessions and cannot be construed as a right. Such guidelines are meant to regulate transfers and postings but would not fall under the purview of service conditions. Thus, it is unenforceable before the court of law, the bench added. The court made the obser vations while rejecting a plea moved by Achutha Gomathi, a member of the Indian Army engineering team, seeking direction to the Army to consider her request to be posted in a place near Chennai. “No doubt every family may have one or other difficulty in one way or another. However, such personal grievances of the employees may be considered by the competent authority and certainly not by the courts,” the court said.

Tearful adieu to medical students killed in road accident

Tearful adieu to medical students killed in road accident

Health Minister Veena George and others paying tributes to five first-year MBBS students when their bodies were kept on the Alappuzha Government Medical College campus on Tuesday. SURESH ALLEPPEY

Sam Paul A.ALAPPUZHA  04.12.2024 

A sombre atmosphere enveloped the Alappuzha Government Medical College campus on Tuesday as the bodies of five first-year MBBS students, who lost their lives in a road accident, were brought to the central library building.

The building corridor, bustling with activity until Monday, was filled with grieving family members, friends, teachers, and members of the public who gathered to mourn the loss and pay their last respects.

Devanandan from Kottakkal in Malappuram, Sreedeep Valsan from Shekharipuram in Palakkad, Ayush Shaji from Kavalam in Alappuzha, Muhammed Ibrahim P.P. from Andrott island in Lakshadweep, and Muhammed Abdul Jabbar from Muttom in Kannur were killed when the car they were travelling in veered onto the other lane and collided with a Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) bus coming from opposite direction at Kalarcode in Alappuzha around 9.30 p.m. on Monday.

Six injured

Six other students—Anand Manu, Krishadev, Alvin, Muhsin, Gouri Shankar and Shane—who were in the car sustained injuries, with the first three remaining in critical condition. The students were heading for Alappuzha in a rented car to watch a movie.

Following the post-mortem examinations, the bodies were brought to the library building before noon. Family members and friends, many in shock and disbelief, were overcome with emotion, finding it difficult to control their tears.

“We have only been together for about two months, but we became like family. I cannot believe this has happened,” said a distraught first-year student.

Ibrahim, one of the victims, had recently secured admission to the medical college by cracking the NEET-UG exam on his first attempt.

“We are all shocked. He was supposed to become the backbone of his family, but fate had other plans,” said a family friend. The bodies were later transported to the victims’ native places. Ibrahim’s body was buried at a mosque graveyard in Ernakulam.

The crash site was less than 10 km from the medical college campus.

The Motor Vehicles department attributed the accident to reckless driving by the student behind the wheel of the car. “Gouri Shankar who drove the car (who was also injured in the accident) obtained his driving licence less than six months ago. He was inexperienced. The car lacked an anti-lock braking system. When he applied the brakes, the vehicle skidded on the wet road and rammed the bus,” said A.K. Dilu, Regional Transport Officer, Alappuzha.

Mr. Dilu said the seven-seater car was carrying 11 people.

“The students had taken the car from an unauthorised rent-a-car facility. We have identified the owner of the facility and summoned him for questioning,” Mr. Dilu said, adding that steps would be initiated to suspend the driving licence of Gouri Shankar.

Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, Health Minister Veena George, Fisheries Minister Saji Cherian, Agriculture Minister P. Prasad and others paid their last respects.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, in a statement in Thiruvananthapuram, said the deaths of the medical students had deeply saddened Kerala. Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan expressed his condolences.

Case against driver

Meanwhile, the police have registered a First Information Report (FIR) naming the KSRTC driver as an accused.

However, officials clarified that the FIR was registered based on preliminary information and it could be changed based on CCTV footage and witness statements.

Plea by AYUSH colleges for 5 x fees from mgmt quota students junked

Plea by AYUSH colleges for 5 x fees from mgmt quota students junked 

FRA Dubs Association’s Demand As Unjust, Improper & Contrary To Law

Yogita.Rao@timesofindia.com 03.12.2024 

Mumbai : The state’s Fee Regulatory Authority (FRA) rejected a demand made by the association of managements of AYUSH colleges to charge five times the regular fees from students admitted under the management quota, regardless of whether the student is an NRI or a non-NRI. The association’s demand was endorsed by the Maharashtra govt in a letter written to the authority in Sep, where it mentioned that it had no objection to allowing the institutes to charge higher fees. 

The FRA, however, mentioned that the claims made by the association, that they are unable to run the colleges from the income generated by the fees approved by the authority, are “unjust, improper and contrary to law”. In a detailed order, concluding that the association’s demand does not deserve any consideration, the FRA mentioned that the fees of each institute are based upon its income and expenditure, and the evidence produced in support of the provisions. “No institute can be permitted to indulge in the act of profiteering by allowing to charge exorbitant and excessive fees,” it stated. The proposal from the association came soon after the FRA decided to cap the caution money for AYUSH courses at Rs 25,000. The authority also mentioned that they came across several complaints from students about colleges allegedly demanding higher fees than the ones prescribed and approved by the FRA.

In their complaints, the students, who were allotted seats by the state’s CET cell, alleged that colleges demanded five times the regular fees at the time of admission. Some students even complained of colleges denying admissions for the same. “There appears to be some oblique  motive in raising such demand by some of the institutes to cover up their act of collecting fees more than the ones approved by the authority,” mentioned the FRA. 

Citing a 2018 order, the FRA mentioned that the association running AYUSH colleges cannot demand a different fee structure in comparison to institutions running other health science courses. The FRA said that the association did not produce any material to reconsider its earlier decision even in 2018, and therefore the request made by them cannot be entertained now. Additionally, it also pointed out that the process of approval of fee structures for 2024-25 commenced in Oct 2023 and the fees were already decided. Currently, the FRA allows colleges to charge three times the fees from students admitted under the management quota and five times from students who are admitted under NRI quota.

MBBS student found dead

MBBS student found dead 

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 03.12.2024

Coimbatore : A 22-year-old second year MBBS student, who used to spend weekends with her parents, was reportedly found dead on Sunday morning when her father went to wake her up at their house in Tamil Nadu’s Coimbatore city. T Keerthana, studying and residing at a private medical college in Coimbatore, came to her parents’ house on Saturday night after visiting a relative at a private hospital where she had an egg puff and tea from the hospital’s canteen. Later she had parotta from a hotel near her house around 9.30 pm, her 62-yearold father, N Thiyagarajan, told police. 

Then she went to bed around 11 pm in her room, while her parents slept next to her, as per the complaint. On Sunday, Thiyagarajan woke up around 7 am and his wife an hour later. When Keerthana did not get up till 9.30 am, Thiyagarajan went to wake her up. He found her unconscious and rushed her to a private hospital in Thudiyalur. She was then referred to Coimbatore Medical College Hospital, where doctors declared her dead. We are waiting for the postmortem report to know the exact cause of death, police said.

Direct flights from Prayagraj to many cities PRAYAGRAJ, 2025MAHA KUMBH

Direct flights from Prayagraj to many cities PRAYAGRAJ, 2025MAHA KUMBH

 Rajeev.Mani@timesofindia.com  03.12.2024

 Prayagraj : In view of Maha Kumbh, direct flights will start soon from Prayagraj to Jabalpur, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Kolkata, Guwahati, Bhubaneswar, and Dehradun. Flight services for these cities will be operated by the aviation company Alliance Air. Alliance Air has sent its proposal to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). After getting approval from the DGCA, direct flights for these cities will start. 

Prayagraj Airport administration has already given permission to operate these flights. After this, the final proposal was sent to the DGCA through a letter. Permission is also expected from the DGCA soon. It is being said that some of these aircraft will fly from the respective cities and leave for Prayagraj and then for Delhi. Among these, the Prayagraj

Kolkata flight will be available three days a week, and for the rest of the cities, the flight will be available only one day a week. At present, there are direct flights from Prayagraj to Delhi, Mumbai, Bhubaneswar, Raipur, Lucknow, Hyderabad, and Bangalore.