CHENNAI: Chief Minister MK Stalin on Tuesday termed the new University Grants Commission (UGC) draft regulations granting broader control to governors over V-C appointment and allowing non-academics to hold these posts as a “direct assault on federalism and state rights”. He also said the state will fight the move legally and politically.
Through a post on ‘X’, Stalin said, “This authoritarian move by the union government is aimed at centralising power, undermining the democratically elected state governments. Education must remain with those chosen by the people, and should not be dictated by governors acting at the BJP government’s behest”.
He further said Tamil Nadu, which leads the nation with the highest number of top-ranking higher education institutions, will not stay silent when the institutions are stripped of autonomy.
“Education is a subject under the Concurrent List in our Constitution. We consider the move of the UGC unconstitutional,” Stalin said in the post. The DMK allies, including Congress, CPI, and CPM also condemned the UGC’s new regulations.
Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) president K Selvaperunthagai termed the move as a direct assault on the state’s autonomy and called for a legal battle. CPM state secretary P Shanmugam said the party plans to carry out a protest against the move. CPI state secretary R Mutharasan also criticised the UGC and urged the democratic forces to unite and stage protests against what he described as an infringement on the rights of the states.
Meanwhile, Stalin also expressed concern over the decision of the National Testing Agency (NTA) to conduct UGC-NET December 2024 exam from January 3 to 16. In a letter, he requested Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to reschedule the examination as one of the exam days, January 14, falls on the day of Pongal. Pointing at previous years’ data, he said the NTA has never conducted UGC-NET exam during Pongal festival season.