Chennai: Arappor Iyakkam has alleged irregularities in the grant of affiliation approvals to 74 private colleges of education by Tamil Nadu Teachers Education University (TNTEU) between 2023 and 2025.In a complaint submitted to Governor Viswanath Arlekar, chief minister Joseph Vijay and higher education minister P Viswanathan and TNTEU registrar (Incharge) K Rajasekaran, on Thursday, the anti-corruption organisation questioned the manner in which inspection committees assessed the colleges.Arappor Iyakkam said university records obtained through an RTI query showed that an inspection committee headed by M Rajakumar had physically visited five colleges located between Tiruvallur and Tuticorin on March 29, 2023. The organisation said these colleges were located in Tiruvallur, Perambalur, Trichy and Tuticorin districts and that the committee had travelled nearly 560km in a day, raising doubts about the inspection process.“While an inspection team requires a full day to verify faculty credentials, admissions, attendance details and infrastructure facilities, how was it possible to inspect five colleges in four districts? The travel alone would have taken 11 hours,” said N Radhakrishnan of Arappor Iyakkam.Arappor said five principals were shown working simultaneously at two colleges in the records. The complaint also said that 37 faculty members bearing the same names were listed as working at 222 vacancies across the state. It urged govt to verify whether these 211 faculty members existed and whether fake credentials had been used to secure the university’s affiliation.Arappor demanded a govt inquiry into the irregularities and sought action against colleges found to have submitted forged or misleading documents to obtain affiliation. It also called for action against university officials if they were found to have approved affiliations without carrying out proper inspections.Higher education secretary Dheeraj Kumar said govt is looking into the allegations raised by the NGO. “There are verifiable allegations made into the complaint. We will order an inquiry,” he said.
