Tamil Nadu government agrees to expand Vice-Chancellor search panel to five members

CHENNAI: In a major departure from the stand that the previous DMK government adopted, the State government has agreed to expand the search committee for the appointment of Vice-Chancellors in State universities to five members from the present three, Higher Education Minister P Viswanathan said on Tuesday.

This is expected to end the prolonged impasse over appointments of Vice-Chancellors to 15 public universities.

At present, the panels have the Governor's nominee, the State government's nominee and the university syndicate's nominee. The revised committees would have a nominee of the University Grants Commission (UGC) and an additional nominee of the State government, Viswanathan told the media at the Central Polytechnic College in Taramani.

The proposal has already been forwarded to Governor RV Arlekar for approval, he said, expressing confidence that the Governor would grant assent soon, after which the process of appointing Vice-Chancellors to the vacant universities would begin.

The move may end years of dispute that played out between the previous DMK government and the then Governor RN Ravi over the appointment of VCs. At the heart of the row was the composition of the search committee and the Governor's role in higher education administration, as the DMK govt refused to accede to the demand to include UGC nominee.

While the Governor had insisted on including a UGC nominee to ensure greater transparency in the selection process, the then DMK government opposed this, leading to a prolonged deadlock that stalled Vice-Chancellor appointments across several government universities.

The issue was one of several flashpoints between the government and the Governor, with the State accusing the Lok Bhavan of interfering in higher education by holding consultations with Vice-Chancellors and taking an active role in the appointment process.

On the other hand, the TVK-led government backed the legislation adopted by the previous Assembly seeking to designate the Chief Minister as the Chancellor of State universities in place of the Governor. Minister Viswanathan said the present government continues to support the legislation and has urged the Governor to facilitate its implementation.

The Minister said the government remains committed to strengthening higher education governance and expediting appointments to ensure the smooth functioning of state universities.