COIMBATORE: Breaking away from its Act and Statutes, the academic year for 2025-26 at Periyar University starts on June 30, instead of July 1. Professors from the university have alleged that this decision favours the head of the Department of Management Studies, for illegal re-employment for 2025-26.
A syndicate meeting, chaired by former Vice-Chancellor (V-C) R Jagannathan, was held on March 3, 2025. According to the syndicate minutes, accessed by TNIE, the retirement age for university teachers is 60.
According to the minutes of the meeting, V R Palanivelu, head of the Department of Management Studies will turn 60 on June 14, 2025, and therefore, will superannuate on June 30, 2025. The academic year runs from June 1 to March 31. Since his retirement falls within this academic year, he is eligible for re-employment until March 31, 2026.
After the syndicate meeting, the university issued a vacation declaration on April 27, from May 2 to June 30. But the university’s Act and Statutes in ‘Holidays and Vacations’ paragraph states that full-time teachers of the university shall be entitled to a summer vacation of two months, from May 1 to June 30 (both days inclusive). Besides, it noted that the higher education department secretary, on May 22, informed registrars that the reopening date would be July 1.
An assistant professor, seeking anonymity, told TNIE that while the syndicate minutes cited the Act to state that the academic year runs from June 1 to March 31, this is totally wrong and contradictory.
He stated that the academic year begins on July 1 and ends on April 30 or 31. “Moreover, as Palanivelu attains 60, the university granted re-employment until June 30 during the syndicate meeting. Furthermore, the syndicate approved his re-employment to continue till March 2026,” he claimed.
Another assistant professor told TNIE that it is better to offer re-employment to staff who retires at the beginning, middle or the end of an academic year. This would help the professors complete the curriculum, and prevents any abrupt disruptions for the students.
“In Palanivelu’s case, the state government would lose around Rs 30 lakh in salary due to the re-employment,” he alleged. He stated that a professor from the Mathematics department, who retired in June 2024, was not given re-employment citing the academic year.
Former president of Association of University Teachers, P Thirunavukkarasu, urged the higher education secretary to cancel the re-employment through the syndicate and take legal action against those who approved Palanivelu’s re-employment. Palanivelu refused to comment about his re-employment.
Higher Education Department secretary C Samayamoorthy told TNIE he would look into the matter.