Pattali Makkal Katchi founder S Ramadoss on Tuesday opposed any move to extend the services of Anna University Vice-Chancellor M K Surappa who is facing corruption charges. Ramadoss also demanded Governor Banwarilal Purohit to withdraw the orders issued for extending the services of Vice-Chancellors of Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli and Periyar University, Salem.
According to Ramadoss, the extension of services of Vice-Chancellors of Bharathidasan University and Periyar University were made mainly to create a precedent so that Surappa who is set to retire in April this year. The PMK leader said the Governor does not have the powers to appoint and extend the services of Vice-Chancellors on his own. The Governor can appoint one person out of three names recommended by a selection panel as the Vice-Chancellor.
Ramadoss said the act of Purohit to extend the services of Vice-Chancellors of two Universities with the consent of the state government and planning to extend the services of another cannot be justified. The Tamil Nadu government has set up a committee headed retired Justice P. Kalaiyarasan to inquire into corruption complaints against Anna University Vice-Chancellor Surappa. Political parties like DMK and PMK had opposed the appointment of Surappa as Anna University Vice-Chancellor in 2018 as he hailed from Karnataka and not the son of the soil.
Surappa had previously served as the Director of the Indian Institute of Technology, Ropar, for six years (2009 to 2015). A Doctorate in Metallurgical Engineering, Surappa has 30 years of teaching experience of which 24 years were spent at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru. "The welfare of the Anna University and Engineering Colleges affiliated to the University, faculty and the students was kept in mind when making the selection," the Raj Bhavan had said in 2018 on Surappa's appointment.
"Since there has been no extraneous interference in the selection process and since the choice of the Vice-Chancellor was done entirely in accordance with the statute, it is requested that politics be kept out and unnecessary mudslinging avoided," the statement added.
