Former Anna University V-C urges T.N. govt. and Governor to set aside differences for welfare of students

The sexual assault on a hostel student on the Anna University campus in Chennai is a result of “anarchy in the university system,” former Vice Chancellor of the varsity E. Balagurusamy has said.

The sexual assault on a hostel student on the Anna University campus in Chennai is a result of “anarchy in the university system,” former Vice Chancellor of the varsity E. Balagurusamy has said.

In a statement on Wednesday (January 1, 2025), the former V-C urged the Governor-Chancellor and Higher Education Minister-cum-Pro Chancellor “to avoid confrontational attitude and work in tandem in the overall interest of higher education in the State.”

Ten days ago, a girl student residing in one of the hostels on the campus was sexually assaulted allegedly by an outsider on the university premises. The issue has since attracted media attention from across the country. Anna University was ranked the best State university by NIRF in 2024.

Prof. Balagurusamy said the Tamil Nadu government and the Governor have been “at loggerheads for a long time over the constitution of search panels” for selecting Vice Chancellors, as a result of which many universities have been headless for more than two years. Also, in the next few months, almost all universities will become headless, he added.

Given that many universities do not have regular registrars, controller of examinations, and finance officers, the functioning of the universities has been severely crippled, “creating chaos in the universities,” he pointed out.

The delay in appointing a V-C further will affect the welfare of and the quality of education and research, impacting students and academicians severely, he said.

Several universities had not held convocations on time and degree certificates were signed by bureaucrats, which degraded the value of the certificates in the job market, he averred.