Chennai: The controversy triggered by Governor R N Ravi rejecting the 3-member search committee appointed by the State Government to identify candidates for the post of Vice Chancellor of Annamalai University was needless as there was no obligation on the part of the government to include the fourth nominee of the University Grants Commission in the panel, State Minister for Higher Education Kovi Chezhian clarified.
The three member committee was formed as per the rules of the State Universities that did not provide for including the UGC nominee in the panel though the Governor had been insisting on having the fourth member citing the UGC norms of 2018 and not approving the panels, the Minister said in a statement on Thursday.
The State government had approached the Supreme Court on the issue and the writ petition (WP (C) 1271 of 2023) was pending, the Minister said, adding that it was just another ploy of the Governor to impede the functioning of the elected government.
With no powers to change the decisions of the government, it would be only appropriate for the Governor to approve the search committees appointed by the State Government and also give sanction to the Bill passed by the State Assembly, he said.
Due to the imbroglio caused by the Governor’s action, six State universities – Madras, Madurai Kamaraj, Bharathiar, Education, Anna and Annamalai - were functioning without a Vice Chancellor and the terms of the Vice Chancellors of Periyar and Manonmaniam Sundaranar universities had been extended.
If the Governor continues to be a stumbling block for the government to run the State Universities as per the rules and norms, soon 11 of the 13 of the universities will be headless as the dispute might continue unless the Supreme Court passes an order on the writ petition pending before it.
Kovi Chezhian mainly clarified that the Governor was not empowered to announce a search committee to find Vice Chancellors for universities and he could only make recommendations.
Many political leaders also flayed the Governor’s interference. PMK President Anbumani Ramadoss said that a solution to the current imbroglio was in the Supreme Court expediting the hearing and giving an order on the case pending before it.
