CHENNAI: The Assembly on Tuesday passed a bill to amend the Tamil Nadu Physical Education and Sports University Act, transferring key powers, including appointment of vice chancellor of the university, from the governor to the state government.
The bill also proposes to restructure the vice chancellor (V-C) search committee by removing the chancellor’s nominee from the panel. As per the bill, the V-C search committee will have two government nominees, a retired HC judge and a retired or serving government officer not below the rank of principal secretary, and one nominee from the university syndicate.
The bill also has provisions regarding removal of V-C from the post and takes away the governor’s power to assent to or withhold assent to the decisions of the university syndicate.
Once the bill becomes an Act, these powers will be exercised by the state government. Notably, the latter provision, which takes away the power of the governor, has not been included in previous amendment bills for other state universities introduced by the state government.
Currently, the university search committee consists of three members, one each nominated by the chancellor, the government, and the university syndicate.
The bill also eliminates the requirement for the state to consult the governor regarding the educational qualification and experience mandated for a V-C candidate before publishing them in the gazette. As per the bill, the search panel will also submit its recommendations directly to the state government.
Further, the bill mandates that any statute, amendment, or repeal passed by the university syndicate must be submitted to the government for approval and will only take effect upon such approval. Previously, this power rested with the chancellor.
In line with other state universities, the bill includes finance secretary as an ex-officio member of the syndicate. It also removes a discriminatory provision that disqualified deaf-mute persons from being elected, nominated or continuing as members of any university authority, aligning the Act with the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016.
The move comes against the backdrop of the Supreme Court’s recent landmark judgment approving 10 amendment bills that curtailed the governor’s powers to appoint V-Cs in 18 of the 20 state-run universities.
While the bill to amend the University of Madras Act is still pending Presidential assent, the state has introduced the new bill to amend the Act governing the Tamil Nadu Physical Education and Sports University, which falls under the Youth Welfare and Sports Development Department headed by Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin.
So far, the governor’s power to nominate a member to the V-C search committee has been removed only in two universities, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University and Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, through earlier amendments. The latest bill marks the third such move and is the first to strip the governor of the authority to assent to syndicate decisions.