‘Governor as Chancellor has powers to direct universities’

Governor-Chancellor Ch. Vidyasagar Rao’s circular on Thursday directing universities to go cashless has put the spotlight on the office’s powers in a university.

The Governor, as the Chancellor, presides over the university convocation and also appoints the Vice-Chancellor. But the official rarely participates in the senate or the syndicate meetings.

Since the Chancellor limits his association with the universities, it has given an impression that he is only a ceremonial head.

It is unusual for a Chancellor to offer suggestions or even direct a university on financial matters, says former Anna University V-C M. Anandakrishnan. However, in the appointment of a V-C the Governor has complete independence. “There was a time when the Governors would not consult the Chief Minister. But in Karnataka there is a clear rule that the V-C appointment is in consultation with the CM,” he adds.

But M. Vanangamudi, the Vice-Chancellor of the Tamil Nadu Dr. Ambedkar Law University, said the Governor as Chancellor has absolute authority. “The Governor chairs the Senate and the Syndicate meetings. In his absence the Vice-Chancellor officiates. As the visitor of the university he can inspect, order and command. The institution runs under his stewardship,” he said.

Irrespective of this debate, Mr. Vanangamudi said all transactions in the university were only through electronic transfer. Students paid their fees through challans or sometimes through demand draft.

The Registrar of the University of Madras, David P. Jawahar, said the university had only recently switched over from cash transactions. “Normally in evaluation camps payment to teachers is in cash. From now on it will only be through ECS. We were also paying our temporary staff who earned less than Rs. 8,000 by cash. The government’s policy currently does not allow us to withdraw only Rs. 50,000 a day. We sent out circulars internally to issue cheques instead,” he said.