Former Minister and secretary of Villupuram AIADMK North district C.Ve. Shanmugam on Monday dubbed as untenable and fictitious the contention of the DMK government that it had no funds to spend for the Jayalalithaa University, proposed by the previous AIADMK government in Villupuram.
Leading a demonstration at the Old Bus Stand, he said when there was enough provision for starting a ₹200 crore library in the name of former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi in Madurai, how could there be a shortage of funds for the university named after Jayalalithaa.
Mr. Shanmugam said the intention of the DMK government was to ensure that no university came up in the name of former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa. The previous AIADMK regime had initiated the necessary logistics to start the institution. The Governor’s approval was also obtained on February 25 and as a follow-up, a Vice-Chancellor was also appointed for the institution. But the model code of conduct that was enforced in the context of the election stood in the way, he said.
Mr. Shanmugam pointed out that merely because the university was named after Jayalalithaa, the DMK was scuttling its implementation.
“If you do not want the name of Jayalalithaa, you (DMK government) could instead name it as Dr. Ambedkar University. Our intention is that higher education should not suffer a setback. I would only appeal to the government not to sabotage the establishment of the university,” he said.
Mr. Shanmugam said that the Minister for Higher Education K. Ponmudi should know quite well that higher education should be promoted in an educationally backward region like Villupuram. The government should not have a short-sighted approach on the issue, he added.
