The University of Madras is yet to pay out pension benefits to faculty who retired as long ago as 2018. The institution is in a quagmire as there are cases pending in court. For some faculty, benefits have been withheld over audit objections. Some of it pertains to the amount of service they have put in.
Former faculty said if a teacher had not fulfilled the paperwork requirement prior to retirement, then their benefits were held over.
Recently a retired faculty member said that he had approached the university authorities several times for two years, but his dues were not settled.
“Teachers on verge of retirement should get a written communication from the university that they have cleared all dues a year before they retire,” said Michael Aruldoss, general secretary of the Madras University Retired Teachers Association.
Mr. Aruldoss recalled his own experience when his benefits were withheld as the university said he had not returned a book he borrowed from the library. Teachers tended to lend their library cards to students and if they forgot to return the book then the teacher would have to bear the cost of the book, he said. There were also instances when teachers might borrow money from the university to organise a conference.
“The finance office may have raised a query, but the professor may be unaware. They may be under the impression that it has been settled. They must follow up with the office and ensure that their files are cleared,” he explained.
The university had been struggling to pay salaries for almost three years owing to Local Fund Audit objections. While the officials had managed to clear most of the objections some are costing the institution dearly. Teachers said the university did not claim block grants for two years, especially when the institution was struggling financially. This resulted in the institution not being able to pay arrears.
Former Vice-Chancellor P. Duraisamy said during his tenure he had ensured that non-teaching staff had been paid their pension dues. However, the same was not done for teaching faculty. Mr. Duraisamy said the State government’s decision to adopt contributory pension scheme had led to depletion of funds as the corpus could not be refilled.
Mr. Aruldoss said the university’s decision in the 2019 to adopt a government order that pension should not be given if there were audit objections had severe consequences. “Audit objection will arise only when the university has spent the money that the government has given. The university receives grants only to pay salaries to sanctioned staff. A V-C should seek grants from the government. The current situation is because some V-Cs did not seek grants,” he said.
Meanwhile, as the imbroglio between the Higher Education Department and the Governor’s office hasn’t been resolved yet and the university remains without a V-C, the prospect of getting the pension dues for retirees appears remote. The university is currently governed by a four-member committee including the Higher Education secretary as one of the members.
