Dharmendra Pradhan, P Chidambaram Clash Over Delay in VC Appointment at Madras University

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Rajya Sabha member P Chidambaram exchanged words in a disagreement over the prolonged delay in appointing a Vice Chancellor for Madras University. The university has been operating without a Vice Chancellor for the past five months, sparking concerns over the state of higher education in the region. The delay is attributed to disagreements between Tamil Nadu’s Governor R N Ravi and the DMK-led government.

P Chidambaram took to platform X (Formerly Twitter) to express his concern. He wrote, “Among the first three Universities of India established in 1857, the University of Madras has been without a Vice Chancellor for the last 5 months. The reason given is the Governor-government stand-off. Why is the Governor of Tamil Nadu at the center of many controversies in the State? Some say that the Governor is the cause of many controversies. It is a sad commentary on the state of higher education in the country.”

In response to the online accusation, Dharmendra Pradhan asserted that the appointment of Vice Chancellors must align with relevant UGC regulations. He specified that the Tamil Nadu government and the University registrar need to form a search-cum-selection committee, including a UGC nominee and Chairman, following the judgments of the constitutional courts in the country.

Dharmendra tweeted, “With regards to delay in appointment of VC in the University of Madras, the UGC is yet to receive a request from the competent authority from Tamil Nadu Govt/ Registrar of University seeking a nominee of Chairman, UGC. For additional information, a UGC Chairman nominee was sent to the Hon’ble TN Governor’s Office for selection and appointment of VC in Bharathidasan University, when the request was made. Instead of believing all of what some say, Shri P Chidambaram should ask the TN Govt./Registrar of University why they are not putting forward a request to seek a UGC, Chairman, nominee for appointment of VC in University of Madras.”

At present, the Governor, also serving as the ex-officio chancellor of public universities, oversees the appointment of Vice Chancellors. On September 6, 2023, three search and selection committees were formed by the Governor to appoint Vice Chancellors for the University of Madras, Bharathiar University in Coimbatore, and Tamil Nadu Teachers Education University in Chennai. It was at this juncture that the ongoing issue began. Furthermore, the Governor put forth the suggestion of adding a fourth committee member by appointing a candidate on behalf of the University Grants Commission (UGC) chairman.