Madras University staff strike work after IT Dept action blocks salary payments

Madras University staff strike work after IT Dept action blocks salary payments

Madras University has been unable to pay salaries to its staff after Government of India's Income Tax department froze over 50 bank accounts of the university.

Staff strike work after IT Dept freezes MU bank accountsMartin Louis - EPS
Binita Jaiswal

Updated on:
01 Mar 2024, 3:14 pm

Teaching and non-teaching staff of the University of Madras staged a protest at the main gate of the varsity's Chepauk campus on Friday, condemning the state government for ignoring the plight of the university.

Over 800 employees of the university, from faculty members to housekeeping staff, participated in the protest.

Madras University has been unable to pay salaries to its staff after Government of India's Income Tax department froze over 50 bank accounts of the university.

The Income Tax department froze the account after demanding Rs 424 crore as dues dating as far back as 2017.

The notices were issued after the Income Tax Department reclassified Madras University as a private university, pointing out that it does not get at least 51% of its funding from the government.

The staff strike disrupted classes for the students. "We sat in the classrooms for three hours, waiting for our teachers, but none turned up," said S Sabari, a postgraduate student.

"We have locked the main gate of the university and are not allowing anybody to enter the campus. None of the staff is on duty today. We will continue this indefinite strike until the state government allocates funds to tide over the financial crisis caused due to the Income Tax department’s action," said a member of the joint action committee of teaching and non-teaching staff associations.

Meanwhile, in a circular issued on Thursday, the university registrar asked all the teaching and administrative staff to not indulge in any type of protest inside the campus.

The university administration had expressed hope that the bank accounts of the university frozen by the IT department would be unlocked by Friday noon, following which they would be able to pay salaries. However, the teachers say the university does not have money for salaries.

"The IT department has already deducted Rs 12.5 crore from the university account. Even if the accounts are defrozen, the university will have to break its corpus fund to pay salaries and we are against using the corpus. The government should immediately step in and release grants for salaries," said a faculty member of the university.

The teachers alleged that citing audit objections, the government has not been providing grants properly to the university since 2017. "While the audit objections are related to only 5% to 10% of the funds, the state government has reduced funding by almost 75%," said a professor.