VIT founder-Chancellor G. Viswanathan had turned down IPS posting in 1961

Founder-Chancellor G. Viswanathan's journey from Loyola College to establishing VIT, shaped by discipline, mentorship, and academic rigor.

Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), one of the country’s leading deemed-to-be universities excelling in the field of engineering education, would not have been a reality but for its founder-Chancellor G. Viswanathan declining to join the Indian Police Service in 1961.

A student of Loyola College between 1957 and 1961, Mr. Viswanathan had cleared the Union Public Service Commission examination in the first attempt.

“I was offered Indian Police Service (IPS) cadre, but since the posting was in Tripura as I was selected for the Manipur Union Territory cadre, I did not accept it because it was not possible to get a transfer to other States,” Mr. Viswanathan has reminisced in an article published in the book, Loyola: 100 Years of Shaping Futures released on the occasion of the Chennai-based institution’s centenary.

His batchmates V. Selvaraj was selected for the Tamil Nadu cadre and Bhaskar Rao for the Andhra Pradesh cadre.

Mr. Viswanathan told The Hindu he had also cleared the Madras Presidency Service Board (MPSC), the predecessor to the TNPSC. The then Congress government denied him posting as he was active in the Dravida Manavar Munnetra Kazhagam in the Law College.

A student of Economics, he completed both his undergraduation and postgraduation from Loyola.

“Loyola College used to produce several IAS, IPS and IFS officers every year and you could find a couple of them in the list of toppers,” he says.