Fund-starved UoM slashes guest faculty count, passes Rs 150-crore deficit budget

Fund-starved UoM slashes guest faculty count, passes Rs 150-crore deficit budget

This is the third time in a row that the university is staring at a deficit budget.

The number of guest lecturers has been reduced from 115 to 75 |

Binita Jaiswal

Updated on: 

01 May 2025, 8:22 am

2 min read

CHENNAI: Despite opposition from the syndicate and senate members, the University of Madras (UoM) has gone ahead with deductions in its expenses under several heads, including reduction in number of guest faculties and non-teaching staff, in its budget estimate for 2025-26.

The university has passed a deficit budget of Rs 149.86 crore for the financial year. This is the third time in a row that the university is staring at a deficit budget. The revised budget for 2025-26 was passed on Wednesday after senate members sent their views through email to the registrar.

“Without any discussion, the budget was passed after taking the views of senate members through emails. This is not a fair process. Many senators had vehemently opposed the budget cuts, but we were informed that the majority was in favour of it and so the budget was passed,” said a senate member.

Usually, the university’s annual budget is passed in the senate meeting held at the end of March. However, this year in the senate, only the budget for April was passed instead of the annual budget. The cash-strapped university was asked by the state government to revise its budget estimates by making necessary deductions in expenses to deal with the mounting deficit. While the deficit in the budget estimate for 2023-24 of its non-plan account stood at Rs 105.54 crore, in 2024-25 it rose to Rs 146.16 crore and this year it has again gone up to Rs 149.86 crore. 

“The non-plan account (expenditure) in 2024-25 stood at Rs 270.40 crore, however, after making all the budget cuts, they have managed to bring it down to Rs 246.47 crore,” said a senate member. The non-plan account deals with the receipts and expenditure connected to the normal functioning of the university.

The budget allocation for the university department’s stationery and equipment maintenance was reduced by 20%, while maintenance of buildings was cut by 40%, and the allocation towards student facilities, sports, and physical education was reduced by 30%. The number of guest lecturers has been reduced from 115 to 75 and part-time (hourly basis) guest faculty from 46 to 30.

According to university officials, the deficit is the outcome of years of accumulation. The syndicate and senate members had written to the administration against the budget cut, as it would affect the functioning of the university and is inimical to the interests of students. The members had appealed to the state government to provide grants to deal with the budget cuts.

“All our appeals have fallen on deaf ears,” said a syndicate member.