Tamil Nadu governor vs govt conflict leaves varsities headless

There has been no vice-chancellor for Madras University for 4 months and for Coimbatore’s Bharathiar University and the Tamil Nadu Teachers Education University for 9 months, respectively

The latest chapter of conflict between Tamil Nadu’s governor R N Ravi and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)-led government has resulted in three state universities including the University of Madras, one of the oldest in the country, being headless for months. The current stand-off is over constituting a search committee, which will shortlist names for a vice-chancellor (VC) to be appointed to each of these universities.

RN Ravi (PTI)

This comes months after the Tamil Nadu government passed two bills in April that empower it to appoint vice-chancellors to state-run universities, by clipping the wings of the governor on this subject. Interestingly, these bills have been opened at the Raj Bhavan for the governor to give his assent to rid himself of his powers in the higher education department. At present, the governor, who is the ex-officio chancellor of state universities, makes the appointments of VCs. Tamil Nadu was inspired by the Gujarat University Act, 1949, and the Telangana Universities Act, 1991, which allow the state governments to appoint VCs besides the Karnataka State Universities Act, 2000, which mandates that VCs are appointed by the chancellor with the state government’s concurrence.

The present issue began on September 6 after the governor announced the constitution of three search-cum selection committees to appoint vice-chancellors to the three institutions—the University of Madras, Bharathiar University in Coimbatore and the Tamil Nadu Teachers Education University in Chennai. He also introduced a fourth member in the committee by nominating a person on behalf of the chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC).

Hitherto the process was that the governor, government and the university would appoint a nominee each to form a three-member search-cum selection committee, explains general secretary for the State Platform for Common School System, Prince Gajendra Babu.

Higher education minister and pro-chancellor of state universities, K Ponmudy disregarded the governor’s action saying that he has no authority to do this unilaterally. “Till now, the search panel members have been appointed as per the university acts. The governor has gone against it,” minister Ponmudy had said in August.

On September 13, the higher education department issued a notification for a search-cum-selection committee by excluding the nominee of the UGC Chairman, which, the governor, termed as an “act of impropriety” and demanded the state to withdraw their notification. “The said publication in the government gazette is without any such authority from the Chancellor, being the head of the University and that the Principal Secretary to Government, Higher Education Department, has no role in the affairs of the University and hence the Chancellor has called upon to withdraw the said Notification published in the Tamil Nadu Government Gazette Extraordinary,” the Raj Bhavan said.

There has been no vice-chancellor for Madras University for four months and for Coimbatore’s Bharathiar University and the Tamil Nadu Teachers Education University for nine months, respectively. The Raj Bhavan justifies that their move is in accordance with UGC guidelines from 2018 and an unnamed and undated Supreme Court order.

But educationists have backed the state in this issue. “After a search committee is in place, it is the state government which has to issue a gazette notification calling for applications,” says Babu. “The search committee will consider them and submit three shortlisted names for filling the post of a VC to the Governor will finalise the appointment.” A confederation of three organisations, the Joint Action Council of College Teachers (JAC), Tamil Nadu in their statement said that the governor was appropriating the power of the state. The Tamil Nadu Retired College Teachers Association (TANRECTA) said that including a nominee of the UGC chairman which is in accordance with the guidelines of the UGC in 2018 has not yet been adopted by the state government. A Supreme Court order in 2015 on a case related to an ex VC of the Madurai Kamaraj University held that UGC’s guidelines were regulatory and not mandatory, the organisation added.