University of Madras cancels Senate meeting after 18 months, cites bureaucratic commitments

The University of Madras abruptly called off its Senate meeting on Friday, just hours before it was due to convene, citing "certain urgent meetings of the authorities" in a communication sent by the Registrar to members.

The postponement has angered a section of academics who point out this was the first Senate gathering in nearly 18 months, the previous meeting took place on March 29, 2025. A registrar's letter promised the revised date would be communicated shortly but offered no timeline.

Bureaucrats' absence triggers cancellation

The "authorities" whose meetings prompted the deferral are bureaucratic heads of different departments who serve as ex-officio Senate members, according to university academics. These faculty members argued that the absence of such officials should not justify scrapping a Senate meeting that had been pending for so long.

Statutory body has not met for 18 months

The Senate is the university's highest administrative body, comprising senior academicians, and its approval of all Syndicate decisions is statutorily mandatory. University statutes require two Senate meetings each year, and the body must adopt the financial estimate for the current year and the revised estimate for the previous fiscal annually.

Because the Senate has not convened for about a year and a half, the university has been circulating provisional minutes of "Senate-in-circulation" at the end of each month to secure approval for interim budgets "to meet expenditure towards salary, pension, and other obligatory expenses". On July 30, 2026, provisional minutes sought approval of ₹22.20 crore for July expenses.

Members receive one day to respond; if they do not, the provisional minutes are deemed confirmed. The university has operated without a Vice-Chancellor for more than two years, with routine administrative matters routed through a three-member Convenor Committee standing in for the V-C, causing further delays.

Source: The Hindu