PU Syndicate meeting: six government ex-officio members fail to participate

PU Syndicate meeting: six government ex-officio members fail to participate

Higher Education Dept. Secretary was also absent; the government should instruct all ex-officio members to participate in the meeting as there are allegedly chances to take some decision against the wishes of the government, say sources

M. Sabari

Salem 23.11.2024

The 116th Syndicate meeting was held at Periyar University on Friday in which only two of the eight government ex-officio members participated.

The Higher Education Department Secretary also did not participate in the meeting.

The meeting was presided over by Vice-Chancellor and Syndicate Chairman R. Jagannathan. Of the 22 members, 15 members - two government deputy secretaries (Law and Finance), four members from the Periyar University Association of Self-Financing Colleges (PASAM), two government nominees, four university teachers, and three governor nominees - participated. Six government ex-officio members, including the Higher Education Secretary, did not participate.

The members, who participated in the meeting, on condition of anonymity said that while one of the agenda that was placed by the university administration was to remove assistant professor, K. Prem Kumar, from service for allegedly leaking the agenda of a Syndicate meeting, a few members raised concerns.

Following this, the Vice-Chancellor said that the minutes would be sent in circulation and the members shall give their assent or dissent for that agenda.

Agenda

“In the next two or three days, we will know whether the agenda will be passed or rejected. In the last three years, this Syndicate meeting ended smoothly without any serious discussions. In the last meeting, while the same agenda was tabled, a series of discussions took place and the agenda was rejected by majority members. Similarly, it is usual to take a decision on an agenda in the meeting itself. But this time, it was not taken. The government should instruct all government ex-officio members to participate in the Syndicate meeting as there are allegedly chances to take some decision against the wishes of the government,” sources added.