CHENNAI: The income tax department has allegedly put the bank account of the University of Madras, which has more than Rs 424 crore, on hold for the past two days. While the university officials said that it was due to a clerical error, sources said it might be because of the complications arising due to the state government not releasing funds for the institution since 2018.
This would mean that the university would not be able to manage its day-to-day expenses, as per sources. However, when contacted, a university official said that there was a clerical error and miscommunication over the documents to be submitted to the income tax department which led to the hold.
Sources said the state government has not released the funds for the university due to problems in auditing since 2018. “The university can be considered as a government institution only if it receives more than 50% of its funds from the government. As the state government has not released funds since 2018, the I-T department has now asked the university to pay more than `400 crore as tax and penalty on par with the private institutions,” said a source.
“While the university has already been facing a fund crunch without the state government funds, the hold comes as a double whammy for the institution. As the University of Madras is one of the oldest and prominent educational institutions, the government should take necessary steps to prevent such problems for which vice-chancellors should be appointed immediately,” said a professor. The university has been functioning without a vice-chancellor for the past six months after the end of the previous V-C’s term in August.