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President Droupadi Murmu on Monday, December 29, has returned the University of Madras (Amendment Bill) back to the Tamil Nadu government, stalling the move to alter the process of appointing vice-chancellors in state-run universities.
The Bill, passed by the Tamil Nadu Assembly in April 2022, sought to amend the University of Madras Act to hold the power to appoint and remove the Vice-Chancellor with the state government.
At present, this authority rests with the Governor, who serves as the ex-officio Chancellor of the University. The proposed amendment aimed to replace reference to the Chancellor with the Government in the Act.
Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi earlier reserved the Bill for the President’s consideration, stating that the changes could bring conflict with University Grants Commission (UGC) regulations and established norms governing vice-chancellor appointments.
The decision comes amid a prolonged confrontation between the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government and the Governor over the administration of Higher education institutions in the state.
Around 14 of Tamil Nadu's 22 state-run universities, including the 168-year old University of Madras, are currently functioning without regular vice-chancellors and are being run by convenor committee.
The dispute has also reached the Supreme Court, which in April this year delivered a landmark verdict on the Governor’s role in dealing with state legislation.
The Court granted the deemed assent to 10 amendment Bills passed by the Tamil Nadu Assembly in 2022, by invoking its powers under Article 142 of the Constitution.
However, the University of Madras (Amendment) Bill was excluded from the Supreme Court’s deemed assent ruling as it had already been reserved for the President at that time.