Objecting to the search-cum-selection committee formed by the Tamil Nadu government for the selection of the vice-chancellors to the University of Madras, the chairman of UGC, Mamidala Jagadesh, on Wednesday said that “appointment of the VC of a university in violation of the UGC regulations is not valid”.
“UGC’s stand has been consistent on this issue. The selection for the post of VC should be through proper identification by a panel of three to five persons recommended by a search committee. One member of the search cum-selection committee shall be nominated by the chairman of the UGC for selection of vice-chancellors of state, private and deemed to be universities. Appointment of vice-chancellor of a university in violation of the UGC regulations is not valid,” said Mamidala. UGC had earlier written to the chief secretary of the Tamil Nadu government regarding the same. Mamidala’s remarks come in the wake of the omission of the name of the UGC chairman nominee Prof. HCS Rathore, from the search-cum-selection committee for the VC of University of Madras by Tamil Nadu government. The name was omitted in the gazette notification published by the government.

Tamil Nadu :- The governor of the state had first announced the committee on September 6, comprising the nominee of the UGC chairman. Omitting the nominee, the Tamil Nadu government had retained three of the four members who were a part of the earlier panel announced by Governor R N Ravi in a gazette notification on September 13. The tension between the state government and the governor over appointments of VC is not just limited to Tamil Nadu. In Bihar too, the government issued a separate notification inviting applications for the positions of vice-chancellors for universities in Bihar just days after a notification by the governor of the state. Both notifications carried different timelines for applications, with the one issued by the governor setting the deadline August 27, and the one by the government September 13.
The West Bengal government had approached the Supreme Court in September as well, saying that neither the governor nor the UGC had responded to their communication seeking a nominee from them to the search-cum-selection committee for the appointment of vice chancellors. The government plea came after the governor directly appointed the VC to state-run universities. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had slammed the move, saying that the VCs must be picked from the names suggested by the state government appointed five-member search committee.

Click Here for More Latest News