CHENNAI: Teaching and non-teaching staff of the University of Madras staged a protest on campus on Monday over the delay in the disbursal of their May salaries. The employees, who usually receive their pay on the last working day of the month, said they were expecting to be paid by May 30 but did not receive their salaries, following which they began the protest.
The university, which has been grappling with a financial crisis, has cited a shortage of funds as the reason for the delay. For the academic year 2025-26, the varsity has posted a deficit budget of Rs 149 crore. It requires around Rs 19 crore every month to meet its expenses, with a major chunk of it going towards salaries and pensions.
Over the past year, salaries have been disbursed using interest earned from the corpus fund deposits. However, recent expenditure on infrastructure projects has left the institution without sufficient funds to meet its salary obligations.
Higher Education Secretary C Samayamoorthy stated that the issue has been resolved and employees would receive their salaries on Tuesday.