Dignitaries during the conference against the draft UGC regulations, in Chennai on Tuesday.
| Photo Credit: Akhila Easwaran

Speakers from across political parties lent  support to the state government in its opposition to the new regulations of the University Grants Commission. 

Higher education minister Govi Chezhian called on students to email to the UGC against its new regulations that have brought in a new set of rules for appointment of  Vice-Chancellors and teachers. 

In a meeting on Tuesday, organised by The Tamilnadu Editors Guild here,  Mr. Chezhian said the state had the highest number of PhDs in the country. He said the chief minister has taken several steps to maintain the autonomy of the state and its institutions. He assured speakers at the event that he would take their demands to the Chief Minister. 

Mr. Chezhian said people like him, belonging to the Adi Dravidar community, were educated because of the then political struggle to ensure equality for the socially underprivileged sections of society.

One of the demands was that students in colleges should be allowed to participate in politics. 

Educationist Jayaprakash Gandhi suggested that the union government should consider giving autonomy in developing educational policies to the State, which is home to 22 of the top 100 NIRF ranked universities and has 6% of higher educational institutions in the country. He wondered if there was a political motive for introducing the recent regulations. 

Kancheepuram DMK MLA C.V.M.P. Ezhilarasan said the youth wing will put up posters in all colleges to create a movement against the regulations. PMK leader Ganesh Kumar and VCK MLA Shah Nawaz said their parties would lend support to the government to stop the efforts to introduce the new regulations. 

Advisor to former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Ponraj charged that the union government had systematically privatised government organisations to favour private entities.