Madras University Crisis: No Immediate Help Will Be Provided By Tamil Nadu Government (image-facebook/University of Madras)
After holding a meeting with the state government to discuss the financial crisis plaguing the University of Madras, reports have come out stating the government may not offer any direct financial help. But the government has said that legal opinion will be sought about giving an undertaking to the Income-Tax (I-T) department in an attempt to make the department defreeze the university’s bank account, reports The New Indian Express.
Earlier, on February 23, the teaching and non-teaching staff association of the university employed on a temporary as well as permanent basis sat on a hunger strike from 10 am at the University campus. The strike was called citing that the Income Tax department has frozen 37 fixed deposit accounts of the University for unpaid tax dues. During a press conference, representatives of the Teachers and Staff Welfare Associations claimed that they had proof of tax returns filed by the University. They said that they would submit it to the IT department through an auditor.
The university’s ailing financial condition was struck with a severe blow when the IT officials froze its bank accounts. The department as per the notice sent, has issued a hefty amount of Rs 424 crore in tax to be paid arguing that the university cannot be considered a government university. They stated that the state government’s contribution of funds was less than 50% since 2016-17. Meanwhile, the officials have already deducted an amount of Rs 12.5 crore from the frozen accounts.
After the Tuesday meeting, the university sources stated that they would seek legal opinion on providing an undertaking I-T department, stating that 20% of the demanded amount could be paid in installments. And thereby, the university will also be able to file an appeal against the payment demand. However, the joint committee has requested the government to take care of the salaries of the employees which is due for the past two months.
As per the committee, if the state government refuses to provide any funds, it will be forced to break its corpus. It is stated to be more than Rs 300 crore, the interest from which pensions are being paid. However, it is said that even by tapping the corpus fund, the university will not be able to cope.
The sources have asserted that the university will not be able to go in the long run without financial support from the government. They have also alleged that the existing audit objections are only an amount of Rs 6 to 7 crore, while the state government has been slashing more than 75% of the funds it ought to have provided in the past few years.
