CHENNAI: Expressing concern over the “anomalous” situation of state-run universities without vice chancellors for years, the Madras High Court has said such a situation would have a “direct impact” on the quality of education and administration of the institutions. The court has also asked the state government to inform it of the course of action to “remedy the anomaly”.
“The convenor committee headed by an IAS Officer, at the best, can only be a temporary arrangement and it is virtually impossible for this committee to run the universities and administer the colleges falling under the purview of those Universities. This status is continuing for more than three to four years and it has a direct impact on the functioning of the educational institutions,” observed Justice N Anand Venkatesh.
He cautioned, “If the state government does not take immediate steps to set right this anomaly, it will directly impact the higher education in Tamil Nadu.”
Stressing the need for remedying the situation, he said on Tuesday, the high court has “to necessarily take judicial notice” of the prevailing situation.
The judge requested the advocate general to appear and inform the “further course of action” to be taken by the state government “to restore normalcy” in the functioning of 14 universities which have not had a V-C or a syndicate for the last three to four years.
The judge made the observations and comments while hearing a batch of sub-appeal petitions filed by retired employees of the Annamalai University seeking disbursement of pension to them.
Senior counsel Singaravelan, representing the petitioners, submitted the registrar is facing certain difficulties in resolving the issues since the varsity does not have a V-C or syndicate but is being run by a convenor committee headed by an IAS officer.
Referring to this submission, the judge noted he has been dealing with similar cases filed by retired employees of University of Madras and Anna University. He said, “The common thread that runs through these universities is the functioning without V-Cs and properly constituted Syndicate; they presently function with assistance of temporary registrars and convenor committees.” He suo motu impleaded the finance secretary in the case. The judge directed the registrar of Annamalai University to file a report on the disbursement and posted the matter to November 17.
