Publish minutes of the Syndicate meeting of Periyar University, demand academicians

Faculty members of Periyar University demand to make the minutes of the Syndicate meeting public, which had been kept as secret documents for the past six years.

As per rule, in a year, the Syndicate meeting of the university should be conducted four times, where important policy decisions are taken. Before 2019, within 30 days after the meeting, the minutes will be released on the University website. But for the past six years, the minutes were not made public. Periyar University, which is now administered by the Vice-Chancellor (V-C) in-charge committee, does not release the minutes, which has come under severe criticism.

Faculty members said that the last Syndicate meeting was held on November 19, 2025, in Chennai. The minutes were circulated only to the members who participated in the meeting. As per norms, it should be circulated to every member of the Syndicate irrespective of whether they participate in the meeting or not. But to allegedly insult the members with a personal vendetta, the minutes were not circulated. . The convenor of the V-C in-charge Committee, E. Sundaravalli, should look into the issue and take action, faculty members added.

Former president of the Association of University Teachers (AUT) K. Pandiyan said that before February 27, 2019, the minutes were made public. As per the Right to Information Act 2005, it was made mandatory that every public authority should make the minutes of board, committee or council meetings accessible to the public. But Periyar University is acting against the principle of fairness in administration.

He added that the university has been caught up with irregularities over appointments, granting illegal re-employments, and awarding unjust punishments to unpreferred to the fore only when such controversial subject matters of the Syndicate is being busted. The present V-C in-charge committee does not make any perceptible change of course, but merely follows the earlier laid path, Mr. Pandiyan charged.

When contacted, a member of the V-C in-charge committee on anonymity assured that they would check whether the minutes are circulated to every member and will take the issue of publishing the minutes on the website to Ms. Sundaravalli’s attention.