Ahead of TNEA Counselling 2025, group flags 13,861 ‘suspicious faculty’ at 224 Tamil Nadu engineering colleges

TNEA 2025: As the Tamil Nadu Engineering Admissions (TNEA) 2025 counselling process looms, civil society group Arappor Iyakkam has raised serious concerns about widespread deficiencies and fraud across hundreds of private engineering colleges in the state.

The organisation has alleged that nearly 400 out of 460 affiliated engineering colleges in Tamil Nadu lack minimum infrastructure and qualified faculty. Among 224 colleges with repeat faculties, Dhanalakshmi Srinivasan College of Engineering & Technology in Chengalpattu has 34 repeat entries, T J Institute of Technology in Chengalpattu has 33, and Sri Muthukumaran Institute of Technology in Kancheepuram has 27. Other colleges include Rathinam Technical Campus in Coimbatore and Selvam College of Technology in Namakkal with 12 and 10 such faculty, respectively.

In an interview with Careers360, Arappor Iyakkam’s convener Jayaram Venkatesan alleged that both Anna University’s affiliation process and All India Council for Technical Education’s (AICTE) inspection system are to be blamed for this. Arappor has identified 13,861 faculty IDs on the Centre for Affiliation of Institutions (CAI) portal with suspicious data manipulation, including dummy values and random additions.

A total of 23 pages, the complaint named officials, attached data tables, and cited statutory rules. However, no criminal investigation or reform was initiated in response.

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Arappor Iyakkam is urging chief minister MK Stalin, governor RN Ravi, the higher education department, Anna University’s syndicate, and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) to act decisively. Edited excerpts from the interview:

You’ve claimed nearly 400 Tamil Nadu engineering colleges are unfit. How did you arrive at this figure?

We conducted a data-driven investigation using information published on the Anna University Centre for Affiliation of Institutions (CAI) website. We consolidated and cross-mapped the faculty lists submitted by colleges. What we found was shocking – 353 professors were shown to be full-time faculty in over 972 positions across colleges. In some cases, the same person was listed in 11 different institutions.

We used RTI responses, faculty qualification data, photos, and birth dates to verify this duplication. It is not humanly possible for a faculty member to be physically present and teaching in multiple colleges at the same time.

Have you engaged Anna University regarding your findings? What’s been their response?

We’ve submitted detailed representations, and even filed RTIs. The response has been mostly silence. There is no transparency or accountability. Students and parents remain completely in the dark. The university hasn’t even disclosed whether inspection reports have been submitted or whether any colleges have faced action.

What action are you demanding before TNEA 2025 counselling begins?

We are asking the government and Anna University to exclude colleges that fail basic norms from the counselling process. Seats in such colleges should not be approved, and inspection reports must be made public immediately. Without this, students will continue to take admission in substandard colleges and realise the truth only after joining.

What prompted Arappor Iyakkam’s involvement in higher education issues?

We began our work in governance and transparency across sectors. But engineering education in Tamil Nadu is a serious issue in itself. Parents are spending lakhs of rupees — often through loans — believing their children are getting quality education. But in many of these colleges, labs don’t function, and faculty only exist on paper. Students are being cheated, and the regulatory bodies are complicit.

The primary problem is lack of labs and practical infrastructure, which are essential for engineering education. Students are supposed to learn through hands-on practice, but in many colleges, this simply doesn’t exist. In the absence of proper lab facilities, they aren’t even gaining the basic skills to become employable engineers.

Two years ago, Arappor Iyakkam filed a formal complaint with the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC), based on its analysis of affiliation data from Anna University for the academic year 2023–24.

The complaint — supported by data from the university’s own website and RTI replies — revealed that:

• 353 professors were listed as full-time faculty in multiple colleges — in some cases up to 11 institutions at once.

• These names were verified and approved by Anna University’s inspection teams, who in some cases approved the same person at two different colleges on the same day.

• Over 175 of these faculty held PhDs, suggesting that even senior-level professors were being used as ghost faculty for affiliation purposes.

• The affiliation process violated multiple Anna University regulations, including the requirement for full-time faculty and proper infrastructure.

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“This is not merely negligence. It is systematic fraud involving college managements, professors, and public servants at Anna University and AICTE. Thousands of students are being duped every year,” the complaint read.