The Tamil Nadu government will appoint interim vice-chancellors at 11 state universities where the posts are vacant, Higher Education Minister P Viswanathan said on Wednesday.
The appointments will be made through the universities' syndicates, with senior professors likely to be given charge of the institutions until regular vice-chancellors are appointed. Similar arrangements have already been made at Alagappa University and Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, the minister said.
Speaking to reporters in Tiruchirappalli after a consultation with staff and students of Bharathidasan University, Viswanathan said the interim arrangements would be extended to the remaining 11 universities.
He clarified that the appointments would not be full-fledged VC appointments, but temporary arrangements to run the universities in the absence of regular vice-chancellors.
A senior Higher Education Department official told The New Indian Express that universities were being asked to initiate the process through their syndicates. At Bharathidasan University, officials have reportedly been asked to identify senior-most professors who could be appointed as VC-in-charge.
A former Alagappa University vice-chancellor, S Subbiah, told Times of India that most state universities have provisions in their statutes allowing the syndicate to appoint a senior professor as VC-in-charge. He said Madurai Kamaraj University, University of Madras and Anna University have different provisions for officiating arrangements.
Why are so many VC posts vacant?
The issue has been linked to a prolonged dispute over the process for appointing vice-chancellors to Tamil Nadu's state universities.
In August, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court sought a response from the state government on why VC posts remained vacant in around 14 universities and what steps were being taken to fill them. The court was told that many universities were being administered by in-charge registrars and convenor committees in the absence of VCs.
The state's proposed changes to the laws governing VC appointments have also been challenged in court.
In July, the Tamil Nadu government told the Madras High Court that it was unable to make regular VC appointments because of an undertaking given before the Supreme Court while the validity of the amended university laws is being considered. The state said the amendments provide for the government to make the appointments after a search committee recommends three names.
The official Tamil Nadu Lok Bhavan website currently lists vacant VC positions at several state universities, including the University of Madras, Annamalai University, Madurai Kamaraj University, Anna University, Bharathiar University, Bharathidasan University, Periyar University, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University and Tamil Nadu Dr Ambedkar Law University.
Government says it wants a permanent solution
Viswanathan said the present government would take a different approach to resolving the dispute with the Governor over VC appointments.
“We don't want to fight with the governor,” he said, adding that the Chancellor, Pro-Chancellor and state government could work together to resolve the issue.
The minister also said Chief Minister MK Stalin has been holding discussions with the Governor on the appointment of regular vice-chancellors. He attributed the delay in filling the posts to cases pending before the High Court and Supreme Court.
For now, the proposed interim appointments are intended to ensure that universities without regular VCs have an authorised academic administrator while the legal and administrative issues surrounding permanent appointments continue.
