Alagappa, Manonmaniam Sundaranar varsities get Vice-Chancellors in-charge

Syndicates of two State-run universities in Tamil Nadu may hold the key to how public universities are administered in the State. Here is how.

The Convener Committee system that has been put in place in the 10 universities functioning without Vice-Chancellors for the past two years has led to severe administrative and academic bottlenecks necessitating a re-look. In an interview to The Hindu on Saturday, Higher Education Minister P. Viswanathan said in two more universities — Alagappa and Manonmaniam Sundaranar — the tenures of Vice-Chancellors (V-Cs) ended earlier this month, prompting the department to appoint senior professors to officiate as V-Cs in-charge. If this arrangement is found to be efficient, it could well be extended to all other universities, he added.

J. Jeyakanthan, senior professor and head, Department of Bioinformatics, was appointed as V-C in-charge for Alagappa University, while S. Prabhakar of the Department of English was named V-C in-charge for Manonmaniam Sundaranar University. “The objective is simple: universities must continue to function smoothly. Convocations, financial approvals, academic decisions, and other administrative processes should not be affected because of vacancies,” the Minister said.

“At present, the relationship between the Governor and the Chief Minister is much smoother, and that is important for the functioning of the government. We do not want unnecessary confrontations,” Mr. Viswanathan said.

However, the arrangement was a “purely interim and temporary” measure taken as per university statutes, officials clarified. The Syndicates of these two universities are slated to meet early next month and are likely to deliberate upon the pros and cons of the existing Convener Committee system as well as other alternative systems. It would suffice to say that the outcome of these two meetings may decide the fate of university administration in the State. The issue had been caught up in litigation since a writ was filed at the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court by K. Venkatachalapathy of Tirunelveli challenging several legislations passed by the Assembly aimed at amending statutes governing various State-run universities. The final hearing for this case is coming up on September 2.

For a more permanent solution, the State government opened up a channel of communication with Lok Bhavan, Mr. Viswanathan told The Hindu. The bone of contention between the State government and the Governor was over the composition of V-C Search Committees. “There was discussion regarding inclusion of a nominee from the University Grants Commission. The issue requires policy decision and may require legislative changes as well,” he added. Mr. Viswanathan was hopeful that a solution would be worked out soon, perhaps even before the end of the current Assembly session.