‘Educationists told me about graft’

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

CHENNAI, OCTOBER 10, 2018 00:00 IST



Banwarilal Purohit 

Governor says he didn’t level allegations against anyone

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Governor Banwarilal Purohit has clarified that his reference to corruption in the appointment of Vice-Chancellors to State universities was based on what he had learnt from educationists.

The statement from the Governor’s office has reproduced the speech delivered by Mr. Purohit on October 6 at an event titled ‘Enhancing Quality Education’ organised by the Bharatiya Shikshan Mandal in Raj Bhavan.

The statement quoted the Governor as having said: “I learnt from educationists and others that appointment of Vice-Chancellors was done by exchanging money in crores. I could not believe that. Then I decided that things have to be changed. Till date, nine Vice-Chancellors have been selected by me purely on merit.”

The statement maintained that the Governor had not made any allegations against anybody; nor did he talk about money changing hands. He was only referring to the information provided to him by certain educationists during his interaction with them.

The statement further said that it was a matter of common knowledge that in 2018 alone the people of Tamil Nadu witnessed the arrest of V-Cs appointed prior to 2018. The statement listed the arrest of a V-C by the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption in April; raids and registration of cases by the DVAC against V-Cs; and unseating of a V-C by the Madras High Court for irregularities in the appointment process.

In his speech, the Governor had said nobody could suspect his appointment of the V-Cs. “Things are gradually improving. It will take time but it is impoving,” he told his audience.