Anna University’s Vice-Chancellor M.K. Surappa, whose tenure was marked by hostile relations with the government, will demit office on Sunday with no clarity on who will head the university administration.
A convener committee to handle the administration of the university has not been formed yet.
At the same time, till Saturday evening, Mr. Surappa said he had not received any communication from Governor and Chancellor Banwarilal Purohit on extending his term.
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Last year, Mr. Purohit had extended the tenure of the V-Cs of Alagappa University and Bharathidasan University on their last working day, triggering a controversy. In the case of then BDU V-C P. Manisankar, the extension order came after he had demitted office and left town.
Anna University has not yet constituted a convener committee to carry out the activities in the absence of the V-C. An official said, “The Vice-Chancellor has to convene the Syndicate and make necessary arrangements. So far, he has not called.”
However, in the Syndicate meeting on March 11, in which all ex-officio members participated, the members had selected the Syndicate nominee for the V-C search panel. University faculty had pointed out then that the V-C would have no time to convene another meeting before the end of his tenure. With the model code of conduct for the Assembly election in place, the government did not provide details of the rest of the members of the search panel.
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A source said the government had issued a gazette notification that the Jawaharlal Nehru University V-C Jagadeesh Kumar was chosen as the Chancellor’s nominee and retired bureaucrat Sheela Rani Chunkath as the government’s nominee. The notification was circulated among the members.
No farewell
With no information on the extension of Mr. Surappa’s tenure, the university did not extend him a farewell either.
Hailing from Karnataka, Mr. Surappa is on the faculty list of the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, and was considered an “outsider”. In November last, the Higher Education Department instituted an inquiry committee, headed by retired judge P. Kalaiyarasan, based on claims in the name of three persons that Mr. Surappa had accepted bribe for appointments.