In a possible attempt to expedite the award of Institute of Eminence (IoE) tag for Anna University, MK Surappa, the Vice-Chancellor of the university has written directly to the union government about the funds required. In his letter, he said that the university has internal means to generate Rs 1,570 crore in five years, implying that it doesn’t need the financial aid from the state government.
The IoE tag comes with a Rs 1,000-crore grant from the union government to the university over a five-year period, of which the state government is responsible to pay 50%, which is Rs 500 crore. The Union government had told the government of Tamil Nadu to provide a letter of commitment that it will contribute the said share to the university. Currently, the government of Tamil Nadu reportedly provides a grant of Rs 40 crore per year to the university.
According to reports, MK Surappa urged the union government to retain the offer of IoE for Anna University and assured that the university has the capacity to generate Rs 1,570 crore in revenue in a five-year period by itself from its internal sources.
The government of Tamil Nadu had not sent the letter of commitment to the union government since it has its own concerns about a possibility in the dilution of the 69%-reservation model followed in Tamil Nadu. The state also reportedly expressed its inability to guarantee the expected funds to the university, if it has to be granted the IoE status. However, the government of Tamil Nadu had told the union government that it will implement the tag if the government of India provides the entire amount needed.
Earlier, in June, MK Surappa wrote to the union government with a proposal to generate the funds required for the IoE status internally in the university. As per Surappa’s letter, the university is capable of generating Rs 314 crore per year through means like tuition fees, examination fees, etc. and hence would not be needing additional grants from the government of Tamil Nadu other than its annual block grants and other routine money. Surappa hence requested the union government to retain the proposal to accord the university the IoE status.
Meanwhile, a bill passed by the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly to bifurcate the erstwhile university into the Anna Technological and Research University (consisting of constituency colleges) and Anna University (affiliating body) is yet to receive assent from the Governor of Tamil Nadu.