Governor R.N. Ravi has again nominated one of the members of the University Grants Commission (UGC) as the ‘Chancellor’s nominee’ in the Search Committee that would recommend options to select the Vice-Chancellor (V-C) to the Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (TANUVAS).

The three-member panel was notified by the Tamil Nadu government last week. UGC member Prof. Shashikala Wanjari, named as the ‘Chancellor’s nominee’, is also the V-C of the National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration. In November 2022, too, the Governor-Chancellor nominated then UGC member Sushma Yadav in the panel to select the V-C to the Tamil Nadu Teachers Education University.

Meanwhile, last month, the State government constituted another search committee to select the V-C to the Tamil Nadu Physical Education and Sports University. It named senior IAS officer Atulya Misra as its nominee. This is the first in the recent times that a serving IAS officer was named in the panel.

Unsuccessful attempts

The Governor-Chancellor’s nomination of a UGC member comes after multiple unsuccessful attempts to get the Tamil Nadu government to notify such search panels with four members, including a nominee from the UGC chairperson. The State government’s notification of the panel last week is yet another reiteration of its stand against the UGC chairperson’s nominee.

Even last month, the State government notified a three-member search panel without a UGC chairperson’s nominee to select the V-C to the Madurai Kamaraj University. The Raj Bhavan objected to the claims that the notification “purposefully excluded the UGC chairman’s nominee, in violation of the judgments of the Supreme Court.”

The Raj Bhavan had said that the Tamil Nadu government’s notification, without the UGC chairman’s nominee, was void ab initio, and contrary to the existing UGC regulations and orders of the Supreme Court and the Governor-Chancellor’s communication.