From the looks of it, attending to the needs and requirements of the education sector is the last priority of Tamil Nadu’s political parties and leaders.

Three of Tamil Nadu’s most reputed government-run universities — University of Madras (UoM), Anna University (AU), Chennai, and Madurai Kamaraj University (MKU) — have been limping along without vice chancellors (VCs) for over a year. Although the ruling AIADMK government, currently pre-occupied with filling the vacuum left by the sudden demise of three-term former chief minister J. Jayalalithaa on December 5 last year, appointed three-member VC search committees in all three universities to shortlist, and recommend names before the terms of the VCs ended early last year, the search committees took their time submitting recommendations to the governor and ex-officio chancellor of state universities, Vidyasagar Rao. 

The protracted delay in appointing VCs in these top-ranked universities has brought several academic and administrative reforms and upgradation initiatives to a standstill. Moreover, thousands of undergrad and postgrad students, who completed their study programmes haven’t been issued degree certificates in the absence of VCs to sign them. 

“The main reason for the delay in appointing VCs is the lack of political will to appoint persons of integrity and proven professional competence to these apex-level positions. Over the past decade, corruption has become rampant in the university system due to lack of democratic functioning of university bodies including the academic councils, senates and syndicate, which also needs to be urgently rectified,” says senior academician S. Krishnaswamy. 

A scandal surrounding the re-appointment of a tainted convenor of the search committee empowered to shortlist candidates for the post of VC of Madurai Kamaraj University is indicative of the rot that has permeated higher education in Tamil Nadu. Although a search committee member levelled serious charges of nepotism and corruption against convenor Dr. C. Murukadas and subsequently resigned from the committee, a government order of December 20, 2016 reconstituted the committee retaining Murukadas. A public interest litigation filed by A. Narayanan, director of Change India, an NGO, to quash the December 20 government order is pending in the Madras high court.

Moreover, complaints that vice chancellors appointed in state universities lack the required qualifications are rife among teacher associations and educationists. According to the University Grants Commission — the apex Delhi-based supervisory body for all non-technical higher education — rules and regulations, persons of the highest level of competence, integrity, morals and institutional commitment are to be appointed as vice chancellors. “The VC should be a distinguished academician, with a minimum of ten years’ experience as professor in a university system or ten years in an equivalent position in a reputed research and/or academic administrative organisation”. However, the AIADMK government is yet to adopt these UGC regulations of 2010, giving the state government full freedom to appoint candidates of their choice as VCs of state universities. 

Little wonder that Tamil Nadu’s once highly reputed universities including UoM (estb.1857) have lost their lustre. In the latest NIRF (National Institutional Ranking Framework) league tables of India’s best universities compiled by the Union HRD ministry, only Anna University is ranked among the Top 10 (at #6) with the privately promoted Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham at #9 and VIT University ranked at #13, above all the other 22 state government varsities. Moreover, in the NIRF 2017 ‘overall’ category, only IIT-Madras and Anna University among government institutions of higher education are ranked among the Top 20. 

Hemalatha Raghupathi (Chennai)