Union petitions Chief Minister and Governor not to extend tenure of Periyar University V-C

Periyar University Employees Union petitions against extending Vice-Chancellor's tenure due to alleged financial irregularities and violations.

The Periyar University Employees Union (PUEU) has sent petitions to Chief Minister M.K. Stalin and Governor R.N. Ravi not to extend the tenure of Vice-Chancellor R. Jagannathan.

In the petition, union general secretary C. Sakthivel said the tenure of Mr. Jagannathan would end this month. Several allegations were raised during his tenure, including establishing a foundation without the approval of the government or syndicate and making appointments without following the 200-point roaster system.

The Local Fund Audit has raised serious objections in this regard and these objections have not been cleared to date. There is an allegation that, in the name of renovation and maintenance of existing buildings, several lakhs of university funds were siphoned off. Without getting sanction from the finance committee, two vocational programmes were offered by the University, he alleged.

Pointing out that a two-member committee constituted by the government inquired into various allegations and proved violations, Mr. Sakthivel said that based on the committee report, the Higher Education Department directed the Vice-Chancellor to suspend the University Registrar (full additional charge) K. Thangavel but without following the directions, the V-C allowed Mr. Thangavel to retire from service.

The Salem City Police also registered a case for misappropriation of funds and arrested the Vice-Chancellor in December 2023. “So on behalf of PUEU, we request the Chancellor (Governor) not to entertain any request from the Vice-Chancellor for any extension of service made by him. If Mr. Jagannathan’s tenure is extended, it will set a bad precedent,” Mr. Sakthivel added.