Guv meets V-C out on bail, invites protests

SALEM: Kicking up a political row, Governor RN Ravi on Thursday held a closed-door meeting with Periyar University Vice-Chancellor R Jagannathan, who is out on conditional bail after being arrested on charges of misappropriating public funds.

Ravi, who flew down to Salem from Chennai, reached the university around 1 pm and held discussions with Jagannathan for around 20 minutes in his chamber. He wrapped up his visit with a 10-minute interactive session with the heads of all departments.

The Governor’s meeting with the V-C, booked for launching PUTER Foundation, a non-governmental educational institution; as well as under SC/ST Act for threatening A Elangovan, the legal advisor of Periyar University Employees Union, has come under severe criticism from political parties.

The meeting comes days after BJP State president K Annamalai claimed that the V-C’s arrest came after he turned down the proposal from the then Higher Education Minister K Ponmudy to appoint a person of his choice as Registrar.

“The meeting of the Governor with the V-C, who is an accused, has raised eyebrows and a sense of discomfort is brewing among the senior higher education officials. The State and the Raj Bhavan are at loggerheads and the development is another headache for TN officials,” said an informed official. “Most of us are not clear now whether we should attend such meetings as the DVAC is closely monitoring the office of V-C for misappropriation of funds,” he added.

Even as the meeting was underway, six teams of police searched V-C’s office, Internal Quality Assurance Cell (IQAC) office, computer centre, Tamil department office, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY) centre and finance department. The searches continued till night, the source disclosed.

Opposing the Governor’s meeting with the Vice Chancellor, student wings of DMK, MDMK and Left also held a black flag protest in front of the university.