Teachers seek transfer out of Panapakkam school after students’ suicide

TNN | Nov 29, 2017, 00:20 IST

Vellore: Traumatised over the suicide pact of four students of Class XI, several teachers of the government girls' higher secondary school in Panapakkam in Vellore district have appealed to the education department to transfer them out of the school.

Though the school, with a total of 1,300 students, from Classes VI to XII, resumed functioning as usual, uneasy calm prevailed in the premises of the school and the neighbourhood. Officials from police and education department have been camping in the school for the consecutive second day on Tuesday to probe the suicide of the students - R Sankari, B Manisha, K Deepa and K Revathy of class XI (nursing group).

The teachers were shocked over the incident. In a suicide pact, the four girls, who were asked to bring their parents to school to meet the class teacher over their performance, jumped into a well. Their bodies were fished out later.

The chief education officer, however, denied it and said no teacher has sought transfer. He said the services of teachers, Rekha, Meghala, Sivakumari and Lilly, appointed by the Parents Teachers Association have been discontinued. "We have asked the four PTA appointed teachers to stop coming to school from Monday. They have been working in the school for the last one year to four months. They have been paid by the PTA," said an official in the education department

The department has taken the measure following the suicide. It may be recalled that Headmistress J Ramamani and class teacher of nursing group Meenatchi Sundeswari have been placed under suspension following the students' suicide.

A reliable source said four to five teachers have submitted petitions to Chief Education Officer S Mars seeking a transfer.

"We are scared to even ask the students to sit in their respective places. This is the scenario now. We are depressed and under mental agony since Friday. We have no confidence to face the students," said one of the 34 teachers working in the school.

She added that many of the teachers have submitted petitions, seeking transfer out of the school. "A few teachers have also decided to seek transfer to other schools," said another teacher, who has been working for over 10 years in the school.

550 medical students struck off rolls for not paying fees

TNN

| Updated: Nov 29, 2017, 07:14 IST

CHENNAI: More than 550 undergraduate medical students of Raja Muthiah Medical College, which is affiliated to Annamalai University, were removed from the rolls "until further decision" after defaulting on their college fees.

The parents of these students have threatened to go on protest if the government does not reduce the tuition fee and bring the college under the ambit of the Tamil Nadu Dr MGR Medical University. "Facilities in the college are poor, yet it is the most expensive public college. Students don't have adequate attendance because they went on a protest for more than a month. They had to stop it because of a court order. If the government does not hear our plea, we may have to once again go on strike," said B Kamaraj, parent of an MBBS student, at a press meet organised by the Doctors Association for Social Equality (DASE).

DASE general secretary Dr GR Ravindranath said that while the arts and science colleges of the university had revised tuition fees on par with government colleges, the medical and dental colleges continue to charge higher than some self-financing colleges.

Latest Comment... in the end, the career prospects of the students are getting damaged. Already, the University has a ''brand'' in the quality. That gets deteriorated further. ...''In The High Places'', where mone... Read MoreN S

Raja Muthiah Medical College was taken over by the state higher education department in 2013. However, the government decided that the college would be run as a self-financing college. The MBBS prospectus mentions the annual fee as Rs5.5 lakh. "Students who joined the course were aware of the fee. The courts too have ruled in favour of the university," said higher education secretary Sunil Paliwal.

University officials said it would not be possible to reduce fees due to heavy expenditure. "MBBS students joined colleges based on counselling. Some who had better scores may not have joined because they couldn't afford the fee. Any changes now will be unfair," an official said.

Don’t allow Jaya death anniv on December 5: PIL

TNN | Nov 29, 2017, 06:41 IST

J Jayalalithaa CHENNAI: Calling into question the 'date of death' of former chief minister J Jayalalithaa, a PIL filed in the Madras high court has said Tamil Nadu government must be restrained from officially observing December 5 as death anniversary of Jayalalithaa, since a judicial inquiry into the issue is yet to come out with
any finding.

In his PIL, advocate R Kumaravel of Villivakkam said the government itself had set terms of reference for Justice A Arumughaswamy commission of inquiry on September 27, 2017 and mandated it "to inquire into the circumstances and situation leading to the hospitalization of late chief minister on September 22, 2016 and subsequent treatment provided till her demise on December 5, 2016".

Pointing out that the commission started its inquiry by issuing notices to various people and examining the first witness on November 22, the PIL said since Jayalalithaa's date of death had been disputed, it could be verified with it material evidence in a scientific manner.

Since the government itself issued terms of reference to the commission, it should desist from observing December 5 as her death anniversary and wait for the commission to declare the date of her death.

Further, the government may also note that Jayalalithaa was not given acquittal nor declared not guilty by the Supreme Court in the disproportionate assets case against her, the PIL said.

In this regard, Kumaravel said he had already raised the issue before the inquiry commission and submitted discrepancies in the thumb impression of Jayalalithaa, found affixed on the nomination papers of three AIADMK candidates who contested in Thanjavur, Aravakurichi and Thirupparankundram byelections last year.

Despite government promise, many nurses stick to their demands

TNN | Updated: Nov 29, 2017, 07:22 IST



Nurses on strike at the office of the directorate of medical and rural health services in Chennai on Tuesday b... Read More CHENNAI: Nearly 4,000 government nurses who struck work and more than 2,500 of them camping on the directorate of medical services campus in Chennai since Monday will return to work on Wednesday, representatives of Tamil Nadu MRB Nurses' Empowerment Association said at the secretariat on Tuesday.

However, a large section of the nurses decided to continue their strike and stay on the DMS campus as they wanted the promises to be issued in the form of a government order (GO). District representatives from the association held talks with health minister C Vijaya Baskar and senior health officials for nearly three hours on Tuesday. "We will temporarily withdraw strike. The minister has promised to address 90% of our demands. We are satisfied," said nurse Aishwariya, who works with the institute of obstetrics and gynaecology. "We will all return to work from tomorrow," she said.

While the nurses refused to elaborate on the discussions, Vijaya Baskar said: "They have withdrawn the strike. All charges and notices issued for their absence will be withdrawn. They will continue to hold discussions with officials next week," he said.

Senior officials said the department has recommended doubling the salary for nurses and also recommend giving them travel allowances in case they are being deputed to another clinic or hospital. "We told them that their jobs will be made permanent whenever there is a vacancy in the government," a senior official said. Nurses have been on strike since Monday demanding permanent job, higher pay and eight-hour work shifts. The state health department appointed around 10,000 nurses through the medical recruitment board on the basis of a competitive examination under the central government-sponsored National Rural Health Mission scheme. These nurses are being given a consolidated pay of Rs 7, 700 per month. "We work for about 12 hours a day and get just Rs 250 per day, like daily wage labourers. There is no travel allowance even if we are deputed to another PHC for a short while," said H Jaganathan

Cancel TNSCB allotment if houses rented out, says HC

TNN | Updated: Nov 29, 2017, 07:18 IST



CHENNAI: Allotment of slum clearance board houses should be cancelled if the original beneficiary is found renting out his apartment to third parties, the Madras high court has ruled.

Justice S Vaidyanathan, refusing to interfere with the eviction of slum residents at Karunanidhi Nagar, at present known as Theedir Nagar on Greams Road in Thousand Lights, said: "In case the petitioner is found renting or leasing out the tenement/alternative accommodation to a third person, he shall be immediately evicted and the Slum Clearance Board shall allot such tenement to other allottees. To ascertain whether the allottee is residing in the alternative place or not, the authorities shall conduct a surprise inspection and ask for the details about the person residing there. If the allotted person or his family is not residing there, such allottee shall not be shown any indulgence or mercy."

The judge also held that holding of 'testimonials' like Aadhar card, voter identity card and ration card would not entitle an encroacher to ownership of the land.

He directed officials to hand over the token/key to Thideer Nagar residents, who have been allotted an alternative accommodation at Perumbakkam, within two days and ordered the residents to shift to new within three days. Officials must take necessary steps to accommodate the residents' children in schools, preferably in and around Ambattur or Thirumazhisai, within three days, said Justice Vaidyanathan.

Madras university uncovers payment scam 

DECCAN CHRONICLE. | A RAGU RAMAN
Published Nov 28, 2017, 1:37 am IST

The racket, which operated for many years, came to light when IDE officials conducted financial reconciliation with bank accounts and IDE records.

Candidates, who want to enroll in IDE courses used to pay admission and tuition fee through challans at the Indian Bank branch in the university campus.

Chennai: Bringing yet another scam to the light, the Institute of Distance Education (IDE) in University of Madras has uncovered a major scam in which candidates and crooks joined hands to cheat the University by manipulating challans.

The racket, which operated for many years, came to light when IDE officials conducted financial reconciliation with bank accounts and IDE records.

So far, IDE has recovered around Rs 2.5 lakh from 50 students found paying less after the accounting process.

Soon after the exam sam at IDE reported by Deccan Chronicle, the details of the challan scam has emerged.

Candidates, who want to enroll in IDE courses used to pay admission and tuition fee through challans at the Indian Bank branch in the university campus.

The agents in connivance with the clerical staff at the bank and IDE, offered the students a ‘new way’ to just pay half of the amount of the original fee to get admissions in courses like MBA and MCA.

As per the instructions the student will leave the some space in the beginning and fill the challans with one digit less.

For example, the course fee for MBA is `8,450. But the students will fill only Rs 450 and pay the amount at the bank counter.

After that, they would give the challan at a particular counter. The agent or the staff then will add another digit in the chalan. Students who just paid half the amount will get study materials and admission slip like the rest of the candidates.
“During the financial reconciliation, the two sets of records showed that figures varied between the amount which was deposited in the bank and the amount mentioned in the challans,” a source said.

The difference shown in the account was so huge that IDE immediately stopped issuing certificates to candidates and has put in place a new mechanism.

“As per the new system, students who get clearance for paying the full amount alone can get course completion certificate and mark sheets,” an official from IDE said.

“We do not have any direct evidence for the scam. So, we could not initiate any action against the staff members of IDE and bank who were involved in the scam,” he said.

IDE has recovered only Rs 2.5 lakh whereas the estimated loss could be run into several lakh rupees.

“We could not do anything about those who have passed out and got their certificates. The current students can get their certificates only after paying their dues. A periodical financial reconciliation or auditing could have prevented it,” the official said.

Learning from the experience, the university has introduced computerized challans and even introduced online payment system.

When enquired about the challan manipulation, S. Duraisamy, Vice-Chancellor, University of Madras, said that no manipulation took place after he took charge.
“We have introduced online payment system to prevent such malpractices. Soon, IDE will undergo a major change to plug in loopholes in the existing system,” he said.

How they cheated the university?

As per the instructions from the agents, students will leave the some space in the beginning and fill the challans with one digit less.

For example, the course fee for MBA is Rs 8,450. But the students would fill only Rs 450 and pay the amount at the bank counter.

After that, they would give the challan at a particular counter. The agent or the staff then will add another digit in the chalan. Students who just paid half the amount will get study materials and admission slip like the rest of the candidates.

Cycle sharing to kickstart in Chennai 

DECCAN CHRONICLE. | J M RUDHRAN BARAASU

Published Nov 28, 2017, 1:53 am ISTThanks to smart city mission that helped to dust off the scheme files, which was kept laid for years.



The civic body had mandated bi-cycle sharing system in the NMT policy that was drafted in 2014.

Chennai: Implementation of cycle sharing system under Non-Motorized Transport (NMT) Policy in Chennai is all set to get off the ground soon. Thanks to smart city mission that helped to dust off the scheme files, which was kept laid for years.

The civic body had mandated bi-cycle sharing system in the NMT policy that was drafted in 2014. “Feasibility study on implementing the cycle sharing system has been given to a consultant in 2015. Now the detailed project report (DPR) is drafted and we are going to implement the scheme with the help of a private service provider,” a senior Chennai Corporation official said.

It is learnt that the scheme would be implemented with smart city funds.

Even though 378 cycle parking slots have been identified and a total of 4,976 bicycles have been considered in the feasibility study, it would be left to the service provider to increase the number of cycles and parking slots, the official added.

“Bi-cycles will cost us `5.97 crore and parking slots will cost `1.13 crore. With technology costs adding up, the project will be implemented at a cost of `9.49 crore,” the official explained. The fee to be collected from the users would be worked out after a thorough study, according to the official.

The Chennai Corporation is planned to launch cycle sharing slots near colleges, schools, metro rail stations, bus terminus, parks and other recreational areas, thus providing last mile connectivity.

The official added that the new proposal would be sent to Board of Chennai Smart City Limited and the cycle sharing system would be implemented after the board accords administrative sanction.