Crores of money were exchanged for VC posts before I took over, claims Governor Banwarilal Purohit

CHENNAI: Governor Banwarilal Purohit alleged on Saturday that crores of rupees had been exchanged for Vice Chancellor appointments before he took over as ex officio chancellor of State universities.

Speaking at a higher education meeting here, he said, "I couldn't believe it."

Governor Purohit claimed that news about corruption influenced his decision to change the way V-Cs are appointed. He claimed that all the nine Vice-Chancellors he appointed had been picked based on their merit.

However, the Governor's appointment of candidates from other States as V-Cs of key State universities had come under criticism and evoked protests.

The Governor's allegations has opened a Pandora's box with questions being raised as to whether former Governors were also in on corruption. These allegations also put the State Government in a tight spot.

State Higher Education minister K P Anbazhagan was quick to distance the State government from these allegations. "Appointments of vice chancellors is done by the Governor. The State Government has no role in it," he told presspersons.

Fisheries minister D Jayakumar, promised action. "If the Governor discloses the names of the V-Cs who have paid money for their posts, the government will take action," he said.

Meanwhile, in a statement here, DMK president MK Stalin said: "Since the governor himself had revealed the irregularities in the appointment of vice chancellors, at least now he should take action against those responsible for this." He also urged the governor to act on the petitions given by the DMK already on the corrupt deeds of the ministers.