Supreme Court relief to T.N. in case of Vice-Chancellors’ appointments historically significant: Higher Education Minister

Tamil Nadu Higher Education Minister Govi. Chezhiaan on Thursday said that the relief granted to Tamil Nadu by the Supreme Court in the Vice-Chancellors’ appointment case was ‘historically significant’ and that the government will take steps to fill the vacancies soon.

After distributing certificates to graduands at the Graduation Day of College of Engineering, Guindy at Anna University, Dr. Chezhiaan said that Chief Minister M.K. Stalin will now take swift steps to fill the vacant positions. The Supreme Court had on Wednesday set aside an interim stay granted by the Madras High Court on amendments to relevant laws enabling the Tamil Nadu government to appoint Vice-Chancellors to State-run universities and remitted the matter back to the Madras High Court requesting it to decide on the case within six weeks. Sixteen out of 22 State-run universities in Tamil Nadu continue to function without a Vice-Chancellor.

Earlier, speaking at the Graduation Day ceremony, Dr. Chezhiaan said the government has allocated ₹500 crore to Anna University to establish a research park and innovation centres to provide a fillip to research and development infrastructure. He congratulated the 841 graduates who received their certificates. He said that 1,834 first generation learners have been admitted to the four constituent colleges of Anna University in the 2024-25 academic year through various government schemes. Also, 619 government school students were admitted under the State government’s 7.5 per cent reservation scheme during the same year.

Krishnan Sadagopan, Senior Vice-President, Ashok Leyland, S. Visakan, Director of Technical Education, B.T.N. Sridhar, Professor, Department of Aerospace Engineering, Anna University, and V. Kumaresan, Registrar-in-charge, Anna University, spoke.