The debate on demands for grants for higher education on Thursday centred around the Institution of Eminence (IoE) status of Anna University and the nomination of a person of another State to the Vice Chancellor search committee of a State university.
Opposition member and DMK MLA K. Ponmudy asked why the government had nominated Jagadish Kumar, V-C of Jawaharlal Nehru University, who was accused of attacking students on the JNU campus, to the University of Madras V-C search panel.
Higher education Minister K.P. Anbalagan said the Syndicate and Senate members and the Governor-Chancellor appoint a member each to the search panel and the government had no role. Why did the Opposition remain silent when Mr. Kumar was chosen as a search panel member of the Teacher Education University, he asked.
Mr. Ponmudy said there had been no charges against him earlier. But now after the riots on the campus the government should register its objection. He charged that the Central government, with its offer of IoE to Anna University, wanted to divide the university. “I want the government’s assurance that it will be a state University. We divided the university into several zones but retained its name. Now it appears that the central government wants Anna’s name removed,” he charged.
Congress MLA S. Vijayadharini also said the government should retain Anna’s name for the university. The members also raised the fear of the State’s reservation policy of 69% being squandered if the university received IoE status.
Mr. Anbalagan allayed their fears saying the Centre had assured that the university would continue to remain a State-run institution. He said the Chief Minister had formed a five-member committee, which would take recommendations from educationists. “We have no plan to make it a Central university,” he assured the members. The department has allocated money for infrastructure in many State universities but significantly the government arts college of Tiruvottiyur, started by former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, functioning from a dilapidated structure did not find any mention in the announcements.