CHENNAI: In response to Governor RN Ravi’s demand that the state government rollback the GO issued for constituting a search committee to select Annamalai University vice-chancellor (V-C) on the grounds that the UGC nominee’s name was purposefully excluded from the panel, Higher Education Minister Govi Chezhiaan on Thursday said no rule was violated and hence the GO will not be withdrawn.
The minister, in a statement, said the governor can only recommend the government to notify search committees for choosing V-Cs and he doesn’t have the authority to form such panels or announce them. He further highlighted that the three-member search committee was formed as per the State Universities Act and the state doesn't need to include a UGC nominee’s name in it.
The statement cited that in the case of Jagdish Prasad Sharma and others vs the State of Bihar, the Supreme Court had ruled that since education comes under the concurrent list, the state government has the powers to frame its own laws and it is not necessary to follow all recommendations of the UGC. It may be noted that UGC in 2018 issued a set of regulations mandating the inclusion of the UGC chairperson’s nominee in V-C selection panels.
Chezhiaan alleged that the governor was trying to obstruct the functioning of the government elected by the people. In India, which consists of various states, the state governments have the power and the right to set up the higher education system appropriate to the needs of the people of each state, he said.
It can be recalled that the governor formed a search committee with four members, which included his nominee, nominees of the state government, syndicate of the university, and UGC chairman, and sent a letter to the government to notify its constitution. However, the higher education department issued a GO on December 9 in which the UGC nominee’s name was not mentioned. Irked by it, the governor asked the state to issue a fresh GO including the UGC nominee’s name in the panel.