Madras varsity seeks in-circulation senate approval for 2025-26 Budget

In an unprecedented move, the University of Madras has sought in-circulation approval of the senate for its 2025-26 Budget.

The annual Budget was not tabled in March, as is the norm. The Director for Technical Education, who chaired the senate, had approved the expenses for April alone.

A few days later in its meeting, the convener committee and the government officials slashed the allocation under various heads by as much as 50% in some cases. Many of them pertained to student facilities and guest faculty.

A senior professor said the norm was that the finance committee would table the Budget in the senate and get the members’ approval. “The syndicate did not approve of the Budget. It is a single agenda for the senate and the registrar has sought approval by mail. Only those who check the mail may have given their opinion,” a member said.

As many as 30 members have dissented, he added. Earlier, six syndicate members had recorded their dissent on April 15, when the Budget was circulated to the members. Two of them were the Governor’s nominees.

On Monday, the registrar sent the Budget by mail, giving the members just a few hours to read it. He urged the 130 senate members to approve of it as salaries had to be disbursed on May 1.

In his letter to the senate members, the registrar said they may send to him their comments on the agenda for the in-circulation senate meeting by 4 p.m. on April 29 in hard copy or by mail. “If no remarks or comments are received from majority of the members, the provisional minutes will be taken as confirmed,” the letter informed.

C. Murugan, president of the Madras University Teachers Association and a member of the syndicate, said at least 30 senate members had dissented. The members said the Budget had slashed allocations and mooted the reduction of guest faculty at a time when the university had not recruited faculty for over 15 years and depended on guest lecturers. The university, which should have a strength of 540 faculty, currently had just 184 teachers.

Deficit budget

The university has presented a ₹149 crore deficit Budget for 2025-26 despite the severe cuts imposed by the government. Last year the deficit was ₹146 crore. The revenue expected for the current fiscal is ₹242.77 crore. As much as ₹64 crore is expected to be generated by the Institute of Distance Education (IDE).

A senior professor pointed out that with insufficient faculty and complaints from students of non-receipt of course materials, the plan for revenue generation from IDE was ambitious. A source said some departments in the university, functioning for many decades, had not increased student intake despite being popular. “The fee is minimal, whereas, for the same programme in a deemed university, a student may pay 30 times more,” he pointed out.

Another professor said now that the Chief Minister had been declared the Chancellor, the government should consider allocating funds to the institution.

Meanwhile, the syndicate members who dissented also pointed out that the university had not informed the senate members of the dissent expressed by the six syndicate members over the cuts in the Budget while seeking approval.