Full details of professors yet to be uploaded despite info panel order: Arappor Iyakkam

Chennai: Arappor Iyakkam, a city-based anti-corruption organisation, has demanded Tamil Nadu Teachers Education University (TNTEU) to implement the directions of the state information commission and publish the bio-data of all teaching staffers of all 680 affiliated colleges on its website.

Arappor Iyakkam, which had exposed discrepancies in some engineering colleges with fake list of professors to get affiliation to Anna University, had in 2024 filed an RTI plea with the TNTEU following complaints from students and professors in several colleges affiliated to TNTEU, that they did not have sufficient strength of teaching staffers.

While petitioner M Radhakrishnan of Arappor Iyakkam sought details of affiliation team set up to inspect colleges to renew affiliation, dates in which the team visited the colleges, as well as the list of professors enrolled in these colleges with their background. Since there was no response, he filed an appeal before the commission.

In April, when the appeal came up before commissioner R Priyakumar, the deputy registrar, B Vijayakumar, who is also the public information officer, informed the commission that details of affiliation team could not be shared as it was personal information and added that the affiliated institutions have been directed to furnish the approved list of faculty members to the petitioner. It also said the data with the university regarding the faculty members became corrupt and sought four months time to rectify the same and upload the data on the university website.

However, two months on, M Radhakrishnan said he has only received a list of professor names and their designation which did not have any other details such as their educational qualification or their photos.

“The list a creates a suspicion that the names could be duplicate. Also, the university directed the affiliated colleges to upload their faculty details on their respective before May 27, but till now no single college has updated the data. The university should cancel the affiliation of colleges who did not comply with its direction as it would affect hundreds of BEd and MEd students who would enroll in colleges this academic year,” said Radhakrishnan.

When contacted, TNTEU registrar K Rajasekaran said the process of uploading the faculty members still underway as all the affiliated colleges are yet to share the faculty details.