These are disconcerting times for higher education in Tamil Nadu. To begin with, 12 universities in the State have no Vice-Chancellors. Besides the iconic University of Madras, the list of “headless institutions” includes Periyar University, Anna University, Bharathiar University, Madurai Kamaraj University, Bharathidasan University, Tamil Nadu Teachers Education University, Annamalai University, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Tamil University, and Tamil Nadu Physical Education and Sports University.
Several of them have been functioning without a V-C for at least two years, depriving them of not just administrative leadership but also representation in the higher echelons of the Education Ministry. Over the past two to three years, the regular process of the Governor, in his capacity as the Chancellor, selecting a V-C from among three possible candidates recommended by a search committee has ended in a deadlock.
Governor R.N. Ravi has insisted that the 2018 regulation of the University Grants Commission (UGC) be followed in the appointment of the V-Cs, especially the clause that one member of the search committee must be a UGC nominee. However, the State government has said that since it has not adopted that particular UGC clause, it does not apply it. Tamil Nadu would prefer the process to be guided by State legislation and not Central rules. The resulting impasse has affected the normal functioning of the 12 institutions.
