Tamil Nadu opposition party DMK and ruling AIADMK’s ally Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) have criticised the nomination of JNU vice-chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar as head of the vice-chancellor search panel for the University of Madras. Governor Banwarilal Purohit, the Chancellor of the University of Madras, has nominated Kumar to the search panel as incumbent vice-chancellor P Duraisamy’s tenure is ending in May. In a statement on Thursday, DMK leader M K Stalin said nominating Kumar to lead the vice-chancellor search panel sets a wrong precedent. “I condemn Governor ’s decision to nominate JNU vice-chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar as the head of the vice-chancellor search panel. This is a wrong precedent as the post is seen almost as a reward to the vice-chancellor, who displayed negligence during the brutal attack on the JNU students,” Stalin said. “I appeal to the Governor to nominate a qualified academician from Tamil Nadu to head the vice-chancellor search panel of Madras University,” he said. PMK founder S Ramadoss too criticised Kumar’s nomination, saying that the practice of handing over Tamil Nadu’s higher education institutions to personnel from other states is “dangerous”. “It looks like Jagadesh Kumar has been nominated as the head of the Madras University vice-chancellor search panel with an intention of appointing someone from other states. Are there no qualified academicians in the state to nominate the vice-chancellor?” he said.
