MKU Syndicate members cite statute to exercise powers

Draft letter demanding special committee to run MKU

Five senior Syndicate members of Madurai Kamaraj University (MKU) here have stepped in to clear the “vacuum” in the varsity administration created in the absence of Vice-Chancellor.

After being in “wait and watch” mode for a week, the Syndicate members swung into action following the verdict delivered by the Madras High Court Bench here on June 26 against Dr. Kalyani Mathivanan whose appointment as Vice-Chancellor was set aside on eligibility grounds.

After holding a meeting at MKU Syndicate room on Tuesday, the members met again on Wednesday evening to draft a letter to the Higher Education Secretary calling for his immediate intervention to form a special committee to take care of the university administration.

Sources in the MKU told

The Hindu on Wednesday that the members had pulled up Registrar N. Rajasekar for taking “arbitrary decisions” and for not taking the Syndicate into confidence.

When they asked the Registrar to come to the meeting room for expressing their concerns, he refused to do so and instead asked them to come to his chamber.

“Dr. Rajasekar was bluntly told that he was defying the authority since it was Syndicate members who were supreme as per the statute, and they would not go to the Registrar’s chamber. Only then, he went to the meeting room,” reliable sources said.

The Syndicate members told him that he owed an explanation for keeping them in the dark on important developments in the university after the High Court verdict, sources added.

The issues which required immediate attention included appointing new chairpersons for schools in the varsity on a rotation basis for new academic year, and issuing salaries for staff of constituent colleges and temporary employees.

Appealing to the State government to quickly constitute a convenor’s committee, the Syndicate members cited the MKU statute to support their stand. Section 11 (4) of statute 3 read: “When any temporary vacancy occurs in the office of the Vice-Chancellor or if the Vice-Chancellor is, by reason of absence or any other reason , unable to exercise the powers and perform the duties of his office, the Syndicate shall, as soon as possible, make requisite arrangements for exercising the powers and duties of the Vice-Chancellor.”

The Syndicate members will sign the representation and send it to the Higher Education Secretary on Thursday.