MADURAI
The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Monday ordered notice to the Higher Education department and Anna University on a public interest litigation petition that sought a direction to decentralise the university for the benefit of students attached to its six regional campuses.
A Division Bench of Justices N. Kirubakaran and S. S. Sundar ordered notice and adjourned the hearing. The petitioner, V. Jagatheesan of Dindigul, said that in 2007 the State took a decision to split Anna University into six constituent universities with two in Chennai and one each in Tiruchi, Coimbatore, Tirunelveli and Madurai, in a bid to make the administration effective.
The regional universities were highly convenient for parents, faculty members and students as their grievances could be addressed at the regional level itself, he said.
However, in 2011, the government decided to merge the six universities. This move affected the students, particularly at the time of publication of results. It was not possible for a centralised unit to concentrate on all colleges. Some of the grievances faced by students were delay in publication of semester results, sanction of scholarships and existence of only one centralised placement cell, he said.
The State ought to consider the Yash Pal Committee report that clearly mentioned that the Indian university system had a large number of colleges affiliated to it, making it difficult to manage and maintain quality, he added.