When will 14 State-run universities get Vice-Chancellors and Syndicates, Madras High Court asks T.N. government

The judge directed the Higher Education Secretary to apprise the court of the steps taken by the government so far to restore normalcy in all the 14 State universities.

Taking serious note of as many as 14 State-run universities functioning without Vice-Chancellors/Syndicates for the last three to four years, the Madras High Court on Tuesday called for an explanation from Tamil Nadu government as to when normalcy would be restored in all those educational institutions.

Justice N. Anand Venkatesh requested Advocate General Vijay Narayan to appear on behalf of the Higher Education Secretary, whom the judge impleaded suo motu in a batch of applications pending before him, and explain the reason for the absence of Vice-Chancellors/Syndicates on November 17, 2026.

The judge was seized of a batch of eight sub applications filed by the retired employees of Annamalai University to reopen their contempt of court petitions filed against the university Registrar since their pension had not been disbursed yet. In response, the Registrar said, the process was under way and sought time.

Senior counsel R. Singaravelan, representing the applicants, told the court that the Registrar was facing practical difficulties in administering the institution since it did not have a Vice-Chancellor or a Syndicate and was being run by a Convenor Committee headed by the Higher Education Secretary.

After recording his submission, the judge said, he dealt with yet another major issue where the retirement benefits of 500 former employees of the University of Madras got settled after a prolonged pressure exerted by the court. Anna University too was facing a similar issue.

“The common thread that runs through these Universities is the functioning of the Universities without Vice-Chancellors and properly-constituted Syndicate and their present functioning with the assistance of temporary Registrars and Convenor Committees,” the judge highlighted.

He went on to state: “The Convenor Committee headed by the IAS Officer, at the best can only be a temporary arrangement and it is virtually impossible for this Committee to run the Universities and administer the Colleges falling under the purview of those Universities.”

Lamenting that this status was continuing for three to four years, the judge said: “It has a direct impact on the functioning of the educational institutions. If the State government does not take immediate steps to set right this anomaly, it will directly impact the higher education in Tamil Nadu.”

Wanting to find a solution to the problem, the judge suo motu impleaded the Higher Education Secretary as one of the respondents and directed the officer to apprise the court of the steps taken by the government so far to restore normalcy in all the 14 State universities which were suffering without a regular administrative setup.