CHENNAI: Amid an escalating clash with the state government over the appointment of vice-chancellors, Governor RN Ravi has granted the extension of tenures of G Ravi and N Chandrasekar, V-Cs of Alagappa University and Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, respectively, by another year.
Besides these two, the three-year tenure of T Arumugam, V-C of Thiruvalluvar University, also ended on Thursday. While Ravi and Chandrasekar were granted extension, Arumugam has retired, sources said.
With Arumugam’s retirement, Thiruvalluvar University has become the 13th state university, out of total 22, to function without a V-C. “I will continue in office for one more year as my tenure has been extended by the chancellor of the university,” G Ravi told TNIE.
Higher education officials said that the governor has taken the decision without consulting the department. “We have not received any official communication from the governor’s office regarding extension of tenure of the two V-Cs,” said a senior official.
The governor’s decision has come at a time when the tug of war between him and the state government over the power to appoint V-Cs in state universities continues. In April 2025, the SC empowered the state government to appoint V-Cs in state universities by granting “deemed assent” to 10 bills that took away these powers from the governor-chancellor. But, Madras HC later stayed the operation of nine of these Acts.
Academicians, meanwhile, welcomed the decision of V-C’s tenure extension. “It was the need of the hour. Instead of leaving the universities headless, it was right to extend their tenure to maintain administrative continuity,” said a former V-C of University of Madras.
“With this decision, the governor seems to have reinforced his influence over university leadership,” he added.