Jawahar Nesan resigns as Tamil Nadu State Education Policy convenor citing bureaucratic interference

The state government constituted a high-level committee in 2022 under the chairmanship of retired High Court judge D Murugesan to formulate a distinct State Education Policy, in keeping with the historical legacy, present situation, and future aspirations of the state, and future of the youth of Tamil Nadu.

In a statement, Nesan said that he had been contributing his best towards the committee’s functioning and in policy making to achieve the desired goals despite a lack of basic necessities and infrastructure.

“The final policy will be nothing but a re-christened version of the National Education Policy, 2020, driven by the interests of the corporate and market forces, the interest of the sanathanic forces, and the privatization and commercialization of education,” he stated.

Nesan said that senior IAS officer Udhaychandran threatened him to forcefully subscribe him to the imposed conditions. He also added that despite repeated appeals to the chairman of the committee on the exploitative conditions and excesses, the latter did not react but simply ignored the issue.

“Collectively, the developments indicate that the committee’s leadership has failed to protect the sovereign functioning of the committee from both bureaucratic interferences and internal disruptions,” he wrote.