Just 211 professors in 2500 posts: 'Phantom faculty' scandal exposed in Chennai's Anna University, probe launched

Public Lokpal
July 26, 2024

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Just 211 professors in 2500 posts: 'Phantom faculty' scandal exposed in Chennai's Anna University, probe launched

Chennai : Chennai’s educational sector is reeling from a major scam as anti-corruption group Arappor Iyakkam has uncovered a small cadre of professors fraudulently holding multiple faculty positions across the Anna University.

The investigation revealed just 211 individuals has been fraudulently listed as faculty members for nearly 2,500 vacancies in various engineering colleges affiliated with the university. Alarmingly, one professor was found to be linked to as many as 32 different institutions, according to the Indian Express.

The discovery has prompted Anna University to launch an internal probe and sparked urgent calls for a thorough examination of faculty appointment practices.

Alarmingly, Arappor Iyakkam's investigation also indicated that out of 52,500 registered faculty members across 433 affiliated engineering colleges, instances of duplication were prevalent in the records of 2,500 cases.

Anna University's Vice Chancellor, R. Velraj, explained to The Indian Express that while these 211 individuals were officially recognised as full-time faculty members, it does not imply they were actually teaching at all campuses simultaneously. “This was merely on the records. Colleges devised this scheme to maintain their affiliation status during university inspections, possibly even compensating these professors to use their names fraudulently,” Velraj remarked.

In response to the growing concern, Anna University is forming a high-level committee, incorporating officials from the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and the state Higher Education Department, to delve deeper into the matter. Tamil Nadu’s Higher Education Minister, K. Ponmudi, has also demanded a comprehensive report on the findings. Concerns have also emerged regarding an alarming 13,891 professors reportedly using fraudulent IDs, further casting doubt on their qualifications.

This is not the first time that Anna University's professors have landed into trouble. In 2019, the university dismissed four professors  after an internal investigation revealed they had been involved in a marks-for-money scheme.

Under the scheme, the professors demanded payments ranging from Rs 25,000 to Rs 1 lakh to guarantee students passed and received high grades. University administrators stated that they had only discovered evidence of misconduct for the tests administered in November and April of 2017. 

Courtesy - BT