Admission Panel for Unaided Pvt Colleges Reconstituted
PUDUCHERRY: The territorial administration has reconstituted the admission committee to oversee the admission process in unaided private professional educational institutions.
Notably, the vice-chancellor of Pondicherry University, a Central university and the only university in Puducherry, is not part of the committee.
The SC in its order had directed the State to appoint an admission committee and stated that besides the secretary in-charge of medical or engineering education, who would be the secretary of the committee, the other member should be a doctor or engineer of eminence (depending on whether the institution is medical, engineering or technical).
The apex court stated that the committee should be free to nominate or co-opt an independent person of repute in the field of education as well as one of the vice-chancellors of the university in that State so that the total number of persons on the committee does not exceed five.
Retired judge of Madras High Court, A C Arumugaperumal Adityan, was named chairman of the committee on June 11. The other members of the committee nominated by the judge for medical admissions are health secretary, retired deputy director, health department, (expert member in medicine) Dr N Nilamani, convener of Association of Self-financing Medical Colleges. Similarly, the engineering education admission committee comprises education secretary, retired superintending engineer of electricity department (expert in engineering), G Krishnamurthy.
When there was an institute of excellence like JIPMER, educationists feel that a senior professor from JIPMER could have been included in the committee for better functioning.
Since the constitution of the committee in March 29, 2004, and its reconstitution thereafter, the committee has remained toothless.