Minority colleges welcome TN decision to allow independent faculty selection

Decision ends four-year deadlock, clears faculty approvals

Minority education institutions in Tamil Nadu have welcomed a decision by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin to allow them to establish their own faculty selection committees without including government nominees. The announcements ends a four-year deadlock over faculty appointments.

Minority colleges in Tamil Nadu will henceforth be able to form their selection committees without government nominees, bringing an end to a four-year-long deadlock that had delayed approvals for hundreds of faculty appointments across minority-aided institutions in the state. The move has been welcomed by the minority colleges that will now be able to appoint their faculty independently.

In a press statement, the Federation of Minority Institutions and Associations, Tamil Nadu, an organisation bringing together all the minority education institutions in the state, says that it welcomes the move and thanks the CM for kindly considering its long-pending requests.

“The Chief Minister’s positive response reflects his commitment, sensitivity, and inclusive vision towards the concerns of minority institutions. This thoughtful consideration will significantly contribute to the empowerment of minority educational institutions,’’ says Manjit Singh Nayar, President of the federation and General Secretary of Guru Nanak College, Chennai.

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According to the statement, the earlier government order issued in 2021, mandated the inclusion of government nominees in selection committees. The move was strongly opposed by minority institutions, which argued that it interfered with their constitutional rights. The issue had affected some of the most prominent minority institutions in the state, which had been unable to secure approval for the appointment of principals and teaching staff.

According to the new government order, minority colleges across Tamil Nadu are free to form selection committees with their own panels of subject experts. However, state universities will continue to grant qualification approval to newly appointed faculty members to ensure they meet the required academic standards, including NET, SET or PhD qualifications.

“The move will help several hundred faculty members receive long pending approvals and ease the financial burden on colleges caused by prolonged vacancies and delayed salaries,” say government officials.

“The removal of the government representative from faculty selection is a breakthrough in the administration of minority educational institutions. Because a lot of the faculty who had been selected by the institutions were not given due approvals. And so they could not draw the salary given by the government. This clause has now been removed and so it makes it easier for the institutions to get the staff approvals,” says Nayar.

“As far as our college is concerned, we had not applied for minority status recognition because the management always believed that we are a minority institution in Tamil Nadu. But we serve the cause of the majority community. However, when we were not granted recognition for about five of our faculty members who had been selected with due interview process, then it was decided that we should apply for the minority status,” says Marlene Morais, Advisor, Guru Nanak College (GNC), Chennai.

“Across Tamil Nadu a few hundred cases of appointment of faculty and also principals appointment were pending and this step by the Tamil Nadu government will go a long way in providing quality education to the masses in accordance with the vision of the minority institutions,” adds Morais.