Madurai Kamaraj University Registrar (in-charge) A. Muthumanickam has resigned, citing health reasons. University sources said Mr. Muthumanickam faxed his resignation letter on Monday night to Higher Education Secretary A. Karthik, the present head of MKU’s administration, as the post of Vice-Chancellor has been lying vacant for the past 16 months.
Sources at the Registrar’s office said that the resignation was accepted by the Secretary on Tuesday and the appointment of a new Registrar (in-charge) was expected any moment.
Mr. Muthumanickam served for nine months in his tenure while he had previously served for nine months during the tenure of former VC Kalyani Mathivanan. He was appointed in October 2015 following the removal of N. Rajasekar from the post of Registrar.
Speaking to The Hindu , Mr. Muthumanickam said that he had been contemplating about resignation lately owing to health reasons. Following his resignation, he has now returned to his post as the Chairperson of School of Education in MKU.
Claiming that his tenure as Registrar (in-charge) was challenging and taxing owing to the absence of a VC, Mr. Muthumanickam said he discharged his duties without bias. He said that MKU’s financial situation improved considerably and administrative delays were sorted out.
“I wish to register my thanks to both the present Secretary Mr. Karthik and the previous Secretary Ms. Apoorva for trusting me,” he added.
Though Mr. Muthumanickam denied any external factors for his resignation, highly placed sources alleged that he was under pressure from some groups lobbying for the post.
