Sunday, September 8, 2019

Will TN govt help Anna University get Eminence tag?

Uncertainty prevails over Anna University getting the prestigious Institutions of Eminence (IoE) tag.
 
Published: 07th September 2019 08:43 AM |



Anna University (File Photo | EPS)

By Binita Jaiswal


Express News Service

CHENNAI: Uncertainty prevails over Anna University getting the prestigious Institutions of Eminence (IoE) tag.Though the state Higher Education department earlier assured that all measures would be taken to help the university get the IoE tag, the department now feels that the 50 per cent share rider set by the UGC would be a financial burden.

Higher Education secretary Mangat Ram Sharma told Express on Monday that he would meet the secretary to the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD). “We will decide further course of action after discussions with him,” Sharma said, adding that guidelines from the MHRD related to the IoE tag issue were yet to be received.

Higher Education department officials said that usually for most of the Central schemes implemented in the state, a major share of funds, almost 60 to 70 per cent, are provided by the Centre. But surprisingly for this IoE tag issue, the state government is being asked to bear 50 per cent of the share. “There is still no clarity over allocation of funds,” said an official.Anna University was recommended by the UGC empowered committee for getting the IoE status with a rider that the Tamil Nadu government should share up to 50 per cent of the Rs 1,000 crore that the varsity will receive under the scheme over five years.


In the list of the institutions granted the IoE tag, announced by the MHRD on Thursday, the IIT-Madras figured, but not the Anna University. Reports suggested that the MHRD had not got any communication from the state government on the Anna University issue. Hence, the absence of the university’s name in the list.

Meanwhile, Anna University Vice-Chancellor MK Surappa said that he wrote to the state government on Friday, seeking its support to help the varsity get the IoE tag.The Institutions of Eminence scheme has been launched by the Centre to empower higher educational institutions and to help them become world class teaching and research institutions.

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