Ex-babus heading BU VC search panel draw flak

Trichy: Amidst allegations of the vice chancellor search committee for Bharathidasan University being bureaucratised with the appointment of former vice-chairperson of the State Planning Commission, Santha Sheela Nair, as convener, academicians have been optimistic about a fair selection process after the government amended the selection process.

The state government amendment sub section 12 of Bharathidasan University (BDU) Act 1981 had elaborated the definition of ‘eminent educationist’ for becoming search committee members. It also mandated the appointment of a retired bureaucrat as head of the VC search committee.

Retired professor of sociology department of Madurai Kamaraj University Venketarathinam has been elected as senate nominee and former vice-chancellor of Bharathiyar University (BU) S Sivasubramaniyam as syndicate nominee on the VC search panel. The government while completing the BDU VC search committee appointed Santha Sheela Nair as the convener. While academicians were appointed as convener so far, a retired bureaucrat has been chosen as the convener for the first time. Same is the case with the convener of Periyar University VC search panel convener, T S Sridhar, who was additional chief secretary to the state government.

The government amendment was aimed at overhauling the selection process but there wasn’t any qualitative change in the selection process, feel the academicians. Appointing a retired bureaucrat as convener of BDU vice -hancellor search committee was against UGC norms, said senior academician C Murukadas. Formerly convener of Madurai Kamaraj University vice canceller search committee, Murukadas said that it was nothing but bureaucratisation of search committee. Claiming that it was setting a wrong precedent, he said that the move would dilute academic autonomy.

“When the convener of the committee is an IAS officer, the committee will only have a bureaucratic and not an academic approach,” said former president of Association of University Teachers K Pandiyan. The candidate nominated by convener of the selection committee usually became the vice-chancellor. While it was the government and the chancellor who appointed the convener, others were being held responsible for the under-performance of the many universities so far.

Meanwhile, a another senior faculty member from BDU said that even though a bureaucrat had been appointed convener the process was likely to be transparent considering the performance of Shantha Sheela Nair as a bureaucrat. “Her appointment has been made by the chief secretary who recommended her name to former governor C H Vidyasagar Rao against reservations expressed by a minister,”he said.