CHENNAI: Anna University on Tuesday constituted a committee to investigate the allegation that some professors are simultaneously serving as full-time faculty members in multiple engineering colleges affiliated with the varsity in the state. Vice-Chancellor R Velraj told TNIE the issue would be dealt with an iron hand and strict action would be taken against those found guilty. Colleges allegedly show such ghost faculty in their records to meet the eligibility norms of the university and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).
The alleged scam was uncovered by Arappor Iyakkam, a non-governmental organisation that focuses on exposing corruption, earlier in the day. Arappor said that it had conducted an investigation and found that, in the academic year 2023-24, approximately 353 individuals concurrently served as full-time faculty members across multiple engineering colleges.
All of them are on the payroll of two to 11 institutions, Arappor Iyakkam alleged. The NGO said it uncovered the irregularities using data from Anna University’s Centre for Affiliation of Institutions (CAI) and attained through RTIs and corroborated by matching photographs, dates of birth, and educational qualifications of faculty members. The organisation also said that it has spotted duplication of faculty in 284 (47%) of the 480 engineering colleges in TN.
Arappor Iyakkam has submitted a complaint to the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption and called for an investigation. The NGO also sent a letter to Chief Minister MK Stalin and AICTE.
“This is a well-designed scam and all officials from top to bottom are well aware of it. This malpractice has been going on for years to deceive the students. Just on pen and paper, the colleges show that they have adequate faculty members while the reality is completely different,” said Jayaram Venkatesan, convener of Arappor Iyakkam.
Venkatesan further alleged that the corruption has been happening in collusion with the Anna University officials. “It’s important to note that each engineering college must meet specific criteria to obtain affiliation/accreditation from Anna University and the AICTE. These criteria include infrastructure, laboratory facilities, and an adequate number of qualified faculty members.
Colleges declare their compliance with these criteria, which are verified through inspections conducted by Anna University’s Centre for Affiliation of Institutions and AICTE before approvals are granted. It is very surprising that during the inspection, the officials were unable to notice the irregularity as many faculty members have not mentioned their unique AICTE ID number,” he added.
Reacting to the allegations, the vice-chancellor said a committee has been formed to investigate the entire matter and strict action would be taken against those faculty guilty.
“During the inspection, we checked the Aadhaar card numbers of the faculty members, but it seems some of the colleges intentionally submitted fake Aadhaar numbers to us,” Velraj added.
Though TNIE tried to contact a few faculty members named by the NGO, they were not available for comments.
