DMK president M.K. Stalin on Friday condemned the Tamil Nadu government’s decision to bifurcate Anna University, saying that there was a doubt that it was part of the design to hand over the university to the Centre and remove the name of former Chief Minister C.N. Annadurai in whose memory it was named.
“When the DMK proposed [during 2006-11] to bifurcate the university for the benefit of students, the AIADMK vehemently opposed the move. Now it has formed a committee of five ministers to bifurcate the university and there seems to be a motive behind the decision,” he charged in a statement.
Mr Stalin said the Centre had plans to appropriate an important university, with maximum number of affiliated colleges, in the name of granting it the status - Institution of Eminence.
“It will snatch away the university from the control of the State government. Though it has been claimed that it would function under the University Act, the special status will pave way for the Union Human Resources Minister to take over the university through the backdoor,” he alleged.
Mr Stalin said the in granting the special status, the centre had adopted a method similar to what it followed in its draft new education policy. “The draft policy was not published in the languages listed in the 8th schedule of the Constitution and adequate time was not given to discuss about it,” he said,
The DMK leader wanted to know if the BJP government was in a hurry why should the AIADMK government show any urgency on this matter. “There is no clarity on whether 69% reservation for SC, ST, MBC & OBC will be followed. Though Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami has said that reservation would face no threat, one could not believe his promise because of the lies uttered by the government in the past. The is no announcement about in the Centre’s draft policy about reservations,” he further said.
Mr Stalin said the draft policy was clear that admission of foreign students up to 30% of the strength of the local students and agreements with foreign universities could be done without consulting the state government. “If the Centre is interested in improving the quality of higher education, it could give the money directly to the universities. Asking the state government to hand over the universities is nothing but an act of power hunger,” he said.
Reiterating that the DMK had no faith in the committee of ministers, Mr Stalin said the committee should include educationists, Vice-Chancellors and a judge of the Madras High Court. “It should elicit opinion from the teachers, students and the general public. The report of the committee should be placed in the Assembly for discussion,” he said.
