There was no scope for confrontation between the State Government and the Governor on the constitution of an interim committee to administer the affairs of the Anna University, Chennai in the absence of a Vice-Chancellor, experts clarified on Friday.
Academicians and senior officials familiar with the functioning of the university system said whenever the tenure of a V-C ended, it is for the respective university’s syndicate to constitute a three-member panel (called the convener’s committee) to manage the day-to-day affairs. “Once the committee has been formed, the same is communicated to the Higher Education Ministry and the Governor-Chancellor’s office. There is no question of obtaining the sanction of either of the offices as su-ch a requirement is not contemplated in the University Act itself...,” a senior Government official said.
The clarification came in the backdrop of a media report that the Government was on a collision course with the Raj Bhavan over the constitution of the convener’s committee for Anna University on Thursday.
The outgoing V-C Prof P Mannar Jawahar had got the university’s ad-hoc committee (functioning in the absence of a duly constituted syndicate) to nominate him as the convener of the three-member committee till his successor was appointed. “This is per se an ill-advised decision. A Vice Chancellor ceases to be a member of all university committees, including its syndicate the moment he demits office,” a professor said.
Sources in Raj Bhavan confirmed that the Governor had received a communication on Jawahar’s inclusion and ‘approved’ it. However, the ad-hoc committee met on Thursday and reconstituted the committee replacing Jawahar with the Commissioner of Technical Education Ramesh Chand Meena. A source privy to the development in Raj Bhavan said, “Although he was upset over not being consulted about the change in the panel, the Governor is unlikely to make an issue out of it.”