CHENNAI: Though the rejection of vice-chancellor candidates for Anna University by Governor CH Vidyasagar Rao has surprised the academic circles on Saturday, the former VCs of the university said the Governor-Chancellor is well within his rights to reject the candidates. The search panel of the Anna University consists of three members namely Tamil Nadu Open University Vice-Chancellor M. Bhaskaran as the Governor's nominee, a retired IAS officer Hemant Kumar Sinha as government's nominee and Thiagarajar College of Engineering College chairman Karumuthu T. Kannan as Syndicate's nominee.
The panel had received around 80 applications from the professors and senior academicians for the top post. Among them the committee had shortlisted three names — Professor L. Karunamoorthy from Anna University and Ebenezer Jayakumar, the retired professor from Government College of Technology, Coimbatore, and professor S. Mohan from IIT Madras for the post of Vice-Chancellor.
However, the Governor-Chancellor found them not up to the mark. “The chancellor has the right to reject all the candidates without even giving reason whatsoever. There were many instances where the Governor called for the new candidates list or abolished the search committee and formed a new one. While directing the search committee to furnish new candidates list, the Governor should fix a time limit,” said M. Ananthakrishnan, former vice-chancellor, Anna University.
He also welcomed the amendments fixing the time limit for the VC selection procedure. “We have been are pressing it for a long time,” he said. E. Balagurusamy, former Vice Chancellor of the Anna University, said, “Governor has the right to reject without calling them for the interview. But, the Governor's office should inform the public why the candidates were rejected.”
He also said, “Without any gap, the new vice-chancellor should assume charge. The process should be expedited.” The Governor has handed over the appointment orders to the newly appointed VCs of Madras University and Madurai Kamaraj University. “For the first time, the Vice-Chancellors were receiving their appointment orders from the Governor. It is a really welcome beginning,” he added.
