After an inordinate delay, the Higher Education Department has finally constituted a three-member search committee to shortlist the next Vice Chancellor of the unified Anna University to which all the engineering colleges in Tamil Nadu are affiliated.
The search panel comprises former TN Dr Ambedkar Law University VC S Sachidhanandham (Governor-Chancellor’s nominee), retired IAS officer and former VC of Madurai Kamaraj University K Aludiyapillai (State nominee) and SRM deemed university director of faculty of science and humanities R Balasubramanian (syndicate nominee). “The GO constituting the search committee was issued a couple days ago,” Anna University officiating VC Kaliraj told Express on Tuesday.
However, the composition of the search committee sparked a controversy as none of the members had any significant exposure to technical education.
Former State Planning Panel Member (Education) and ex-Anna University VC, E Balagurusamy, said, “This is an unprecedented move. Even though it is not compulsory to have a technical person in the search committee ... while selecting the VC, you should at least have one person with technical education experience in the search panel,” he felt.