Who should be the chancellor?

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin announced last week that his government was exploring options to empower itself to appoint vice-chancellors of universities, Taking away the powers from the Governor-Vice-Chancellor, was not unexpected. Though no major issue has been raised between the state government and Governor RN Ravi in ​​the field of higher education, but the equation between the two has not been good. even after three months Assembly adopted a bill to repeal the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test As the sole guiding factor for admission to undergraduate medical courses, Mr. Ravi has not forwarded this to the President yet, Mr. Stalin has complained that the Governor has not taken any action even after meeting Mr. Ravi and making a request. It was against this background that Mr. Stalin made this announcement.

The move appears to be in line with developments in some other states. In December, Maharashtra legislature adopted a bill curtailing the powers of the governor In the appointment of Vice-Chancellors in State Universities. Around the same time a statement came from the Government of West Bengal that it was Considering the proposal to make Chief Minister the Chancellor of all state universities, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan even in the light of controversy over the selection of Vice Chancellors for the two universities suggested that a special session of the Legislative Assembly be held To remove him from the post of Chancellor of Universities in the State.

If the Tamil Nadu Assembly accepts a bill with the chief minister replacing the governor as the chancellor of universities, it will be the second such instance in the state. In January 1994, when AIADMK was in power, The house passed the university bill, made the chief minister the chancellor of the universities, The souring of relations between the then Governor, M. Channa Reddy and the then Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa over the appointment of the Vice-Chancellor of Madras University was the immediate stimulus. While it was another matter that Reddy did not give his assent to the bill till the end, it must have been amusing for him as he relieved himself in his second term as chief minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh in 1989-90. The post of Chancellor of Telugu University and University of Health Sciences was held by his immediate predecessor NT Rama Rao. Ultimately, the task of withdrawing the Bill was left to the DMK regime.

A former civil servant, who had held a senior position in the Department of Higher Education at the Centre, points out that the President is a visitor to several central institutions, including the National Institutes of Technology, and has received few functions to perform, but of the occupiers and institutions. No dispute arises between However, the situation is not the same when it comes to state universities and governor-chancellors. Although there is nothing inherently superior in the arrangement of a governor being a chancellor to that of a chief minister as a chancellor, a governor usually unaffected by local and political considerations, is allocated in a different way to the chancellor. is in a position to perform the tasks.

Despite the merits and demerits of who should be the chancellor of universities, what the people-spirited academician expects Sri Ravi to do immediately as governor-chancellor is to ensure transparency in the appointment of vice-chancellors. All details about the applicants, the composition of the jury panel, the interviews, and the factors that guided him or his predecessor in the appointments made in the last four-five years should be hosted on the Raj Bhavan website.

ramakrishnan.t@thehindu.co.in