Tuesday, December 11, 2018

Rival goes to high court, says new Tamil varsity VC is not qualified

Ram.Sundaram@timesgroup.com

Chennai:11.12.2018

Even before G Balasubramanian, newly appointed Vice-Chancellor of Tamil University, Thanjavur, could chair his first syndicate meeting, allegations have cropped up that he doesn’t have the academic qualifications needed for the post.

M Ganesan, one of the three candidates shortlisted for the post, has moved the Madras high court stating that Balasubramanian provided false information on books published and international research events conducted. He has sought a direction from the court to quash the appointment. Two weeks' notice has been given to Balasubramanian and the court will hear the case on December 18. In his affidavit, Ganesan said Balasubramanian's curriculum vitae has no details with regard to conduct of research or academic events.

Balasubramanian worked in the Department of Dravidian and Computational Linguistics in Dravidian University, Kuppam, Andhra Pradesh, from 2009.

The university's official website, which contains a list of international seminars, workshops and similar events conducted by various departments, doesn't mention Balasubramanian conducting any such event, the affidavit said.

This is a clear violation of the state government order (G O) no. 51. The order, which prescribes educational qualifications for the post of VC, mandates presentation of not less than two papers at international level academic or research events and experience of conducting at least one such event, said Ganesan, the petitioner.

The said G O states that VC candidates should have either published at least five research papers in University Grants Commission (UGC) listed journals after acquiring Ph.D or authored not less than two books.

Balasubramanian claimed to have published two books -- 'Reflections on Applied Linguistics' and 'Moziyial Oppu Nokku' in the year 2018.

Speaking to TOI, Ganesan claimed that both these books are not available at the Dravidian University, where he worked earlier, or in the market.

On whether non-availability in the market could be a criteria to call Balasubramanian's claim false, Ganesan said, "These are linguistics books and not Bibles to be sold out within a year of publication. Just to strengthen the eligibility criteria, Balasubramanian went to the extent of creating books, he alleged.

"There was no response from the government for more than 40 days to my complaint regarding this," he added, explaining the rationale behind moving the court.

When contacted, Balasubramanian said, "The matter is sub-judice and I don't wish to offer any comment".

Meanwhile, Tamil University syndicate members have requested the state higher education department not to conduct the syndicate meeting until the charges are cleared.

M Ganesan, one of the three candidates shortlisted for the post, has moved the Madras high court stating that Balasubramanian provided false information on books published and international research events conducted. The court will hear the case on Dec 18. Balasubramanian has refused to comment

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