Caught in legal tangle over VCs, TN varsities left headless and penniless

It’s peak admission time, but prestigious universities across Tamil Nadu wear a deserted look. Since the legal case related to the powers to appoint vice-chancellors is pending before the Madras High Court, state government-run universities remain headless.

The Tamil Nadu government has won the case against the governor in the Supreme Court, so it can appoint VCs on its own. But since the matter is still pending in high court where it will be heard only after summer vacation, the process had to be put on hold.

Without the VCs in place, universities are plagued by various delays — in increasing seats for popular courses, filling vacancies of assistant professors, and refurbishing course material, among others. Tamil Nadu has 22 state-run universities; among them, 12 have been managed without vice-chancellors for the past three years. The universities have had to halt initiatives to raise funds too.

Bottlenecks in daily affairs

In the absence of vice-chancellors, a three-member conveners’ committee manages the day-to-day affairs of these institutions. The committee includes one professor from the university, one external representative, and one from the higher education department. Unless all three sign on documents, nothing moves forward.

Sources said even routine matters such as course approvals, fixing fees, or salary disbursals face delays of days or even weeks. Educationists say this bottleneck is severely affecting the universities’ day-to-day functioning.

Even result declarations and application renewals for courses require clearance from a three-member committee. “Every step, from inspections to fee structures, is caught in layers of approvals, slowing down the academic calendar significantly,” said sources.

Also read: Ooty VC conference: TN Governor says situation is akin to Emergency

8,000 posts vacant

Speaking to The Federal on condition of anonymity, a senior professor at Madurai Kamaraj University said close to 8,000 posts of assistant professors and thousands of posts of lab assistants, clerks, and office attenders have not been filled in universities and government colleges in the past 10 years.

“In 2015, the government recruited 957 faculty members. That was the last recruitment made to fill vacancies in universities and government-run colleges. Since then, there has been no recruitment. In 2024, the Teachers’ Recruitment Board (TRB) started the recruitment process for 4,000 faculty positions, but it was postponed without further announcement. The TRB again issued a notification regarding a recruitment exam for 4,000 assistant professors in July this year, but so far, there has been no announcement on the exam date,” said the professor.

He said there are only 5,000 permanent faculty members to manage over 3 lakh students in government colleges across the state.

“There is a hike in the number of seats in colleges every year. The government also inaugurates new colleges in rural areas without posting necessary teaching staff. Close to two-thirds of the faculty teaching in these colleges and universities are guest lecturers. The higher education system in Tamil Nadu has become toothless and headless,” said the professor.

Why TN universities remain paupers

Though the Tamil Nadu government allotted Rs 8,494 crore to the higher education segment in the 2025–2026 state budget, institutions like the University of Madras and Madurai Kamaraj University are battling financial stress as they have to clear pending bills for over five years.

Without a vice-chancellor in place and thick red tape, universities are unable to pursue projects to raise funds, upscale departments, or work with industries to regularize the flow of funds. Sources said the state-run universities did not become paupers in one day.

“The University Grants Commission (UGC) stopped releasing funds for major research projects because the Tamil Nadu government opposed the NEP (National Education Policy). It also imposed jurisdictional restrictions on these universities to run distance education courses, which used to be a major source of revenue for these institutions for several years. Our universities are not self-reliant anymore. Our universities are in the ICU, gasping for breath,” said sources.

Also read: Why Punchhi Commission stance on governors as univ chancellors is relevant now

Impact on syllabus upgrade

S Vivekanandhan, retired commerce professor and member of MUTA, a union for teaching staff of various universities, told The Federal that the absence of vice-chancellors results in huge delays in important decision-making related to refurbishing the syllabus and enhancing the curriculum.

“No bureaucrat can decide academic matters like syllabus changes during admissions. Only the academic council and senate can do that. Without a vice-chancellor, decisions get delayed and the entire system stalls. This isn’t how a university should function. Approvals for revising the curriculum ahead of admissions used to be a normal process. But now, universities have to send all their files to the higher education department in Chennai for approval. It is pathetic that travel bills of many staff are not reimbursed for months due to bureaucratic delays,” he said.

He also said that without a vice-chancellor, a university becomes a stagnant pool. “Files pile up, academic and administrative work grinds to a halt, and the entire higher education system suffers. Especially when there’s a standoff between the Centre and the state and it continues to be an unending scenario, it impacts the quality of education given to students. Even salaries of staff are getting delayed,” Vivekanandhan told The Federal.

Directionless varsities

V Vasanthi Devi, former vice-chancellor of the Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, said the absence of a VC renders institutions directionless.

“A vice-chancellor must be more than an administrator — they are the academic and moral compass of a university. In Tamil Nadu, with so many affiliated colleges, the absence of a VC renders institutions directionless,” she said.

“Currently, all administrative and academic decisions in the absence of a vice-chancellor are made by a conveners’ committee, which is unfair. Education should be in the State List. That would enable the people of Tamil Nadu to design education that reflects their culture, needs, and aspirations. The legal tussle impacts scores of students and the future of prestigious universities,” she added.

Also read: With TN Governor’s powers curtailed but not eliminated, can he still hold VC meetings?

Fresh PIL creates hurdle

Higher Education Minister Govi Chezhiyan was not available for comment. The Federal will carry his response once he shares it. A senior official in the higher education department told The Federal that the Tamil Nadu government is very serious about the case pending before the Madras High Court regarding the powers to appoint vice-chancellors.

“When the Supreme Court gave the green signal in the previous case against the Governor, things moved faster. We had finalized the names of the vice-chancellors to be posted with immediate effect. But with a new PIL pending with the court and curtailing the powers of the state, our hands are tied. Not just Tamil Nadu, non-BJP ruling states like Kerala and West Bengal are also undergoing the same phase,” the officer said.

He also mentioned that despite the tussle, the government is focused on increasing student enrollment in government colleges and introducing new courses in rural colleges. “Ten new government colleges were launched today (May 26). We are aware of serious issues related to vacancies and lack of funds for universities. The Tamil Nadu government is very much focused on restricting the powers of the Governor to appoint vice-chancellors, which is the root cause,” said the officer.

More students but no VCs

He also said the Pudhumai Penn and Tamil Pudhalvan schemes — in which the government provides a monthly scholarship of Rs 1,000 to students — have increased enrolment in government colleges over the past two years. It also helped double the number of girl students in higher education from 2.09 lakh in 2022–23 to 4.06 lakh in 2024–25.

“We are very focused in our approach. We want to solve this once and for all. Tamil Nadu ranks the highest in the country in gross enrolment ratio and also has an adequate number of colleges. Once VCs are appointed, we can clear all the mess,” said the officer.

Also read: Fund crunch hits TN universities hard as Centre, state feud over NEP

Only after vacation

When The Federal spoke to senior advocate and DMK MP P Wilson about the status of the case pending with the Madras High Court, he said it would be heard only after the vacation.

Explaining why the tussle goes for several years he said, “The Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly passed several Bills to change the rules for state-run universities. The main goal was to give the state government — instead of the governor — the power to appoint vice-chancellors. However, the governor delayed the approval for a long time. So, the state government went to Supreme Court, which gave an order on April 8.”

“The court noted the long delay and said the Bills would be considered approved. Because of this order, the Bills became official laws. Though this order was given by the apex court, a fresh PIL was filed by a BJP functionary during the vacation period before the Madras High Court to stay the process. The high court, too, gave the stay order but the Supreme Court has given clear direction now that the case would be heard only after vacation,” he told The Federal.