TN parties flay Anna Univ VC appointment

tnn | Apr 7, 2018, 03:56 IST



Chennai: Opposition parties on Friday criticised the appointment of former IIT-Ropar director M K Surappa as vice-chancellor of Anna University. The parties said governor Banwarilal Purohit appointing a vice-chancellor, hailing from Karnataka, came at a time when the Cauvery protests were raging in Tamil Nadu.

DMK working president M K Stalin took to social media to make his displeasure on the appointment evident. “A vice-chancellor from Karnataka was not advisable during the ongoing tensions over the Cauvery dispute. We ask the governor to not belittle the scholars and academicians from Tamil Nadu by bringing in people from other states for various positions. There should also be no attempt made to saffronise the educational premises in Tamil Nadu,” Stalin tweeted.

Party leaders said though they wanted water from Karnataka, they got a VC from the state instead. But BJP defended the appointment saying Surappa was chosen based on his experience and knowledge.

Actor and MNM leader Kamal Haasan tweeted his strong disapproval. “We asked for water from Karnataka and we get a vice-chancellor from Karnataka instead. The gulf between people and the government cannot be more obvious. Are they taunting us so we react adversely? I wonder what their game plan is,” he tweeted.

PMK founder S Ramadoss said his party would mobilise the varsity’s students to organise a protest against Surappa’s appointment. “There were good educationists in Tamil Nadu but importing a person from another state was not acceptable. No Tamilian has been appointed as VC for Central University of Tamil Nadu, Tiruvarur, Pondicherry University and The Indian Maritime University for a long time,” said Ramadoss.

Despite the long search, governor Purohit could not find a suitable candidate within Tamil Nadu, said CPI state secretary R Mutharasan. Twice search committees were appointed to find a suitable person for the VC’s post, but both the committees failed. The governor appointed another committee under retired Supreme Court judge V S Sripurkar and it selected Surappa, he recalled. “The NDA government at the Centre appointed a person close to it as governor and the governor has chosen a person close to him as VC,” said Mutharasan.