6 days ago
Periyar University replaces long-serving heads of seven departments
The Periyar University Administration has replaced the heads of seven departments, who had served for a long time. This is the first time in the last two decades that seven HoDs were changed at a time.
The varsity has 19 departments and as per the Periyar University Act, a HoD should be a professor and the post should be given to the professors in a department every three years on rotation. However, in many departments, the heads had remained unchanged for more than 10 years reportedly due to the support of the University Administration.
It is claimed that many professors, especially those belonging to Scheduled Caste and Most Backward Classes, were not given the opportunity to become HoDs. Last month, the head of Tamil department, T. Periasamy was changed after 12 years. Following this, the Vice-Chancellor in-charge committee identified the professors who are serving as HoDs for long-term and issued orders recently.
The faculty said that this was the first time in two decades that nearly half of the HoDs were changed. In the order issued to the new HoDs, the university mentioned that their tenure would be three years or until they attained the age of 60.
