Faculty members of the Tamil Nadu Open University (TNOU) have begun an indefinite sit-in protest on its premises demanding the cancellation of orders by the Directorate of Collegiate Education deputing a section of them for additional duty at other colleges.

The faculty said the TNOU only had 37 faculty for its 32 departments against a sanctioned strength of 105. Most of the departments had a single faculty taking care of all academic and administrative responsibilities. With the already disproportionate workload, the additional duty of taking classes at other colleges would only add to the burden.

The order, dated on June 30, stated that seven faculty members from the Tamil, English, botany, geography, chemistry, physics, and political science departments have been deputed to Presidency College as a result of 44 new courses being introduced from the current academic year, since the process to appoint guest faculty for these courses was still under way.

In a statement on Tuesday, the TNOU faculty members said the proposal was part of the agenda before the Finance Committee and Syndicate, which met in April. They demanded that the additional duty clause be removed from the minutes of the meetings.