CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu Government College Teachers’ Association (TNGCTA) has condemned the State government for issuing a notice to the Joint Director of Collegiate Education, Cynthia Selvi, over a circular aimed at curbing Left students’ participation in political protests, claiming that she is being made a scapegoat for implementing orders issued at a law-and-order meeting chaired by the Chief Secretary.
TNGCTA General Secretary S Suresh questioned why the Joint Director was being singled out and held accountable when she was merely carrying out administrative instructions forwarded from higher authorities following decisions taken at a high-level state Law and Order meeting.
According to the association, a directive was initially issued by the Special Secretary to the Higher Education Department, based on the minutes of a Law and Order meeting chaired by the Chief Secretary on July 28. The meeting called for interdepartmental coordination among the School Education, Higher Education, and Police Departments, along with the district administration, to prevent students and youth from participating in protests and agitations organised by left-wing parties and other outfits.
Following this, the Higher Education Department had, on August 14, communicated instructions to the Commissioner of Collegiate Education, the Director of Technical Education, and the Registrars of all state universities, calling for an Action Taken Report (ATR) on or before August 20. Acting on the departmental directive, Joint Director of Collegiate Education Cynthia Selvi had forwarded the circular to all arts and science colleges.
The teachers’ body pointed out that the Registrar of the University of Madras had also circulated the identical instruction to all affiliated arts and science colleges, calling for an action-taken report. “Why no explanation was sought from the Higher Education Department Special Secretary or Madras University Registrar,” it asked.