Chennai: Arappor Iyakkam, a city-based anti-corruption organization, has demanded that the Tamil Nadu Teachers Education University (TNTEU) implement the directions of the state information commission and publish the bio-data of all teaching staff members of its 680 affiliated colleges on its website.
Background of the Demand
Arappor Iyakkam, which previously exposed discrepancies in some engineering colleges that submitted fake lists of professors to obtain affiliation from Anna University, filed an RTI plea with TNTEU in 2024. This followed complaints from students and professors in several colleges affiliated with TNTEU that they lacked sufficient teaching staff strength.
RTI Plea and Appeal
The petitioner, M Radhakrishnan of Arappor Iyakkam, sought details of the affiliation team set up to inspect colleges for renewal of affiliation, the dates of team visits, and a list of professors enrolled in these colleges along with their background. Receiving no response, he filed an appeal before the information commission.
In April, when the appeal came up before Commissioner R Priyakumar, Deputy Registrar B Vijayakumar, who is also the public information officer, informed the commission that details of the affiliation team could not be shared as it was personal information. He added that affiliated institutions had been directed to furnish the approved list of faculty members to the petitioner. He also stated that the data held by the university regarding faculty members had become corrupt and sought four months to rectify and upload the data on the university website.
Current Status
However, two months later, M Radhakrishnan said he has only received a list of professor names and their designations, without any other details such as educational qualifications or photographs.
"The list creates a suspicion that the names could be duplicates. Additionally, the university directed affiliated colleges to upload their faculty details on their respective websites before May 27, but to date, no college has updated the data. The university should cancel the affiliation of colleges that did not comply with its direction, as this would affect hundreds of BEd and MEd students who will enroll in colleges this academic year," said Radhakrishnan.
University Response
When contacted, TNTEU Registrar K Rajasekaran said the process of uploading faculty members is still underway, as all affiliated colleges have yet to share the faculty details.
