CHENNAI: After attending an emergency meeting convened by the state government to discuss the financial crisis plaguing the University of Madras, varsity sources maintained that the government was not inclined to offer direct financial help. They also said legal opinion will be sought about giving an undertaking to the Income Tax (I-T) Department in an attempt to make the department defreeze the university’s bank accounts.
According to members of the joint action committee of teaching and non-teaching staff associations of the university, the state government refused to provide any immediate financial help and instead suggested the university to appeal against I-T department’s demand to pay Rs 424 crore, dues for the assessment years 2017-2018 to 2020-2021.
The university’s ailing financial state of affairs was dealt a severe blow recently when the I-T officials froze its bank accounts for not paying the pending dues. The department had demanded such a hefty amount, by arguing that the university cannot be considered a government university as the state government’s contribution of funds was less than 50% since 2016-17. The officials have already deducted Rs 12.5 crore from the university’s frozen accounts.
Following deliberations at the Tuesday meeting, university sources said they would seek legal opinion on providing an undertaking to the I-T department, stating that 20% of the demanded amount could be paid in instalments. “The I-T officials had asked the university to give an undertaking that 20% of the demanded tax amount would be paid in instalments in the subsequent months, to get the accounts defreezed.
Subsequently, the university will also be able to file an appeal against the payment demand. While the joint action committee requested the government to take care of the salaries, which are due in the next two to three days, we hear that the state government has now refused to help financially,” said a member of the committee.
According to the committee, if the state government refuses to provide any fund, the university would then be forced to break its corpus (once it is defreezed), which has more than Rs 300 crore, the interest from which pensions are being paid. Even if they begin tapping the corpus fund, it is a slippery slope as the university would be able to cope up only for a limited period with the amount.
The university will definitely need financial support from state government in the long run. While the existing audit objections in the university only amount to about Rs 6 to Rs 7 crore, the state government has been slashing more than 75% of the funds it ought to have provided in the past few years, sources alleged.
Officials in the higher education department said how to disburse this month’s salary was the major point discussed in Tuesday’s meeting. “The department may take a decision regarding the financial situation of the university in the next two to three days,” they said.
Meanwhile, academicians have urged the state government to immediately intervene in the matter. “It is high time that the higher education minister announce grants for the historic institution,” said Prince Gajendra Babu, general secretary of State Platform for Common School System, who has started an online campaign to ‘save the University of Madras’.