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University of Madras draws on pension and endowment fund to meet salary expenses

University of Madras draws on pension and endowment fund to meet salary expenses

Cash-strapped varsity forced to draw short-term deposits to meet expenses

June 21, 2023 01:07 pm |- CHENNAI

S Vijay Kumar

University of Madras is reported to be facing acute financial crisis.

University of Madras is reported to be facing acute financial crisis.

Amid acute financial constraints and a proposal for grant-in-aid pending with the State Government, the University of Madras has diluted the Contributory Pension Scheme Fund and Endowment Fund to disburse salary/pension and meet other obligatory expenses for the month of May 2023.

According to sources in the university, short-term deposits made from Contributory Pension Scheme Fund and Endowment Fund to the tune of ₹7.6 crore which matured in May 2023, were utilised to meet the shortfall for salary for staff, retired employees and other expenses. A decision was taken to restore the money to the respective accounts on receipt of the grant-in-aid from the government.

The sources said the university had a monthly recurring expense of about ₹18.61 crores in the form of salary to 779 teaching and non-teaching staff, pension to 1,463 retired teaching, non-teaching staff and family pensioners, payment for temporary staff, security service, electricity etc. There was no response yet on the proposal seeking grant-in-aid for ₹18 crores to meet these expenses for the month of May 2023 sent to the Principal Secretary, Higher Education Department.

As on May 31, 2023, the university had only ₹5 crores available in different accounts and there was a shortfall of ₹11.50 crores to pay the salary, pension and other day-to-day budgetary charges which forced the authorities to withdraw the pension and endowment funds as a temporary measure.

Delay in the release of Block Grant by the State Government, which is paid as salary of staff (sanctioned posts), non-reimbursement of payments to temporary and outsourced staff, guest lecturers etc had crippled the financial stability of the university. The University of Madras and the Madurai Kamaraj University were the worst affected, the sources said.

A payment of ₹11.46 crores which the university is entitled to as an additional grant cleared and forwarded to the Government by the Deputy Director, Local Audit Fund, for the year 2021-22 was also pending, the sources added.

IT firm on boards its first non-human employee in Bhubaneswar

IT firm on boards its first non-human employee in Bhubaneswar

CSM Tech has planned to upgrade the chatbot with new features like voice over implementation wherein any user can search for anything without inputting text.

Published: 22nd June 2023 08:29 AM

By Express News Service

BHUBANESWAR: Amid layoff fears due to the explosive growth of Artificial Intelligence (AI) across the globe, an IT consulting company has come up with a unique human-AI synergy with the on boarding of its first non-human employee.

City-based CSM Technologies has employed Medha K, an AI-powered natural language processing (NLP) chatbot, which can understand and generate text based on the prompts and keywords the user provides. Company sources said, Medha K, a knowledge assistant, has been integrated with ChatGPT to assist CSM’s internal employees. It can also fine-tune language models, incorporate human feedback and employ the most effective learning methods to ensure a seamless experience.

Founder and CEO of CSM Tech Priyadarshi Nanu Pany said the successful onboarding of Medha K proves AI would not substitute humans, but instead complement and augment them at workplaces. “The future belongs to symbiotic or collaborative intelligence where humans and AI work in concert to complement and enhance each other’s strengths. This chatbot is a testimony to the possibilities that can be unlocked with the right human-AI synergy,” he said. Since generative AI keeps evolving, the IT firm is keen to tap opportunities and develop disruptive solutions.