With the IT department releasing the bank accounts of Madras University, based on a petition from the institution, staff members of the varsity got their monthly wages on Friday.
It took an indefinite strike by the employees of the University of Madras demanding their monthly wages to propel the government to act. On Friday morning, even the pensioners and students gathered in the university’s main campus in Chepauk, expressing solidarity with the employees. Retired staff of University are also affected as faculty who after 2018 are yet to get their retirement settlements. They receive only their monthly pensions.
The Income Tax department had, on February 4, informed that it was freezing the State-run University’s bank accounts as it said the institution owed tax dues to the tune of Rs. 424 crore. University officials were puzzled as it is a state-funded institution and was exempted from tax. On Thursday, the University’s auditors petitioned the income tax department seeking condonation for “the delay in filing application for grant of exemption u/s 10 (23C) (iv) of the Income Tax Act” for the assessment year 2019-20. It is learnt that it was on the basis of this petition that the IT department has released the university’s accounts.
