Protest by students of deemed universities

Updated on: Thursday, January 21, 2010

Chennai: Protests against Centre's move to strip 44 educational institutions countrywide of their deemed university status turned violent today in Tamil Nadu with students of two colleges pelting stones, damaging property and blocking traffic at various places of the state.

More than 3000 students of Vinayaka Mission University, which is set to lose their deemed university status, blocked vehicular traffic and stoned buses causing injury to a head constable, in Salem, police said.

Students of Ponniah Ramajeyam University at Thanjavur, which will also be affected by the Centre's decision, too blocked roads, pelted stones and damaged college property,
they said.

Violence also erupted yesterday at the Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences near here when students damaged computers and boycotted classes as their institution figured in the blacklist.

Worried over the Centre's derecognition move, private varsities in Tamil Nadu appealed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Chief Minister M Karunanidhi and HRD ministry to find a solution and offered to hold talks with the government.

M K Padmanabhan, Vice-Chancellor, Dr MGR University, told reporters after a meeting of representatives of varsities that they should be given enough time to rectify the shortcomings.

"We (the managements) are willing to talk to them (officials) and take appropriate decisions," he said, adding the interests of students and staff should be taken into account.

A member present in the meeting said the Prof P N Tandon Committee report, which the Centre has cited in the Supreme Court to derecognise the varsities, was based on 10 minute presentations by management representatives, whereas the UGC panel had spent three days to inspect the institutions before recommending deemed university status.

Ishari K Ganesh, Chancellor, Vel's University, said the next course of action would be decided after the institutions received showcause notices.

An estimated 50,000 plus students are studying in 16 deemed universities in Tamil Nadu and one in Puducherry, mostly run by present and former politicians.

Conveying its decision to derecognise 44 "deemed universities", in which two lakh students are studying, the Centre had told the apex court that these were being run as family fiefdoms, rather than on academic considerations.

Protest by students of deemed universities

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