V Vasanthi Devi obit: Trailblazer who sought to make education inclusive

V Vasanthi Devi, renowned educationist, reformer, and unwavering champion of women’s rights, passed away in Chennai due to age-related illness at 87.

Not confining herself to academic circles, Vasanthi Devi, took to the streets to protest against corruption, the rights of students, equality in educational institutions. She even contested against former Chief Minister and AIADMK leader J Jayalalitha in the 2016 Assembly polls from the RK Nagar, Chennai constituency.

She was among the few teachers who took her lessons to the masses through various social movements. As Vice-Chancellor of Manonmaniam Sundaranar University from 1992 to 1998, she brought both academic rigour and progressive ideals to the forefront of higher education in the state.

Vasanthi served as Chairperson of the Tamil Nadu State Commission for Women between 2002 and 2005, advocating for structural changes to empower women across communities.

Her contributions extended beyond institutions. As President of the Association for India’s Development and trustee of the Chennai Development Research Foundation, she remained deeply engaged in critical issues of governance, federalism, and grassroots education.

In her later years, Vasanthi Devi was at the helm of the Palli Kalvi Pathukappu Iyakkam (School Education Protection Movement), which urged the Tamil Nadu government to mobilise public pressure on the Union government over the withholding of Samagra Shiksha scheme funds.

“This is not merely a government issue,” she wrote in a letter to the Tamil Nadu Education Ministry, “but also the problem of the people in the state. It is important to turn this into a strong public movement.” Her call to action reflected a lifelong belief in participatory democracy and people-led reform.

In her late 70s, she contested as a candidate of the People’s Welfare Alliance. During the election campaign in 2016, she said: “I’ve always been a political person. The prevailing political culture in the country needs to be changed. People must be made to believe there are alternatives. Now people have resigned themselves to corruption, saying there is no other go,’’ she said.

In the 1970s, Vasanthi Devi travelled to the Philippines to pursue her doctoral research in domestic political groupings and dynamics, a subject that would inform much of her later activism and scholarship.

She earned her PhD from the University of the Philippines in 1980. Upon her return to India, she joined Queen Mary’s College in Chennai as a professor, where she quickly emerged as a voice for academic and labour rights.

In 1987, she led a landmark strike of college teachers in Tamil Nadu, highlighting her commitment to educational equity and the rights of educators.

She went on to serve as Principal of the Government College for Women in Kumbakonam from 1988 to 1990. Her appointment as Vice-Chancellor of Manonmaniam Sundaranar University (1992-98), was looked up by scores of women professors.

Vasanthi Devi worked to democratise access to higher education and added importance for research programmes. She insisted that research projects should not end up as just reports but solve social issues. Later, from 2002 to 2005, she was appointed Chairperson of the Tamil Nadu State Commission for Women, where she focused on gender justice and policy reforms that supported women’s empowerment across the state.

Throughout her life, she remained committed to making education accessible, inclusive, and liberating from the classroom to the Constitution. Her efforts were recognised with the Puthiya Thalaimurai Sakthi Award, in 2017, among others.

Vasanthi Devi has contributed columns for The Federal. In her recent column, she criticised the Union Education Ministry for giving more powers to governors to decide matters related to universities in the UGC draft guidelines.

“The Indian higher education needs surgical corrections, is a well-established, long lamented reality. However, the recent draft of guidelines introduced by the University Grants Commission (UGC), instead of addressing the malady, have opened the doors to a multi-dimensional disaster,’’ she wrote in the column. She said that Draft University Grants Commission (UGC) Regulations, 2025 are a threat to federal rights and fear of erosion of standards at all levels of the university system.

Vasanthi Devi will be remembered not only for her intellect and activism, but for showing generations how to speak truth to power with grace, dignity, and unwavering resolve.