Bring dept issues to me rather than issuing press note: Ponmudy

CHENNAI: In another tussle between Higher Education Minister K Ponmudy and Governor RN Ravi, the minister urged the Governor to bring the issues concerning the education department to him as he is the pro-chancellor, rather than issuing a press release.

The Governor is continuing with his political tactics as usual, with less to no understanding of the subject, stated the minister during the press meet here on Thursday.

The minister further went on to say that, even BJP leader K Annamalai has stated that the Governor is indulging in politics.

Pointing out the meeting with chancellors at Raj Bhavan on Tuesday, the minister said, "When Governor wants chancellor meetings to be held in respective universities only, then why would he conduct the syndicates meeting at Raj Bhavan?"

And, responding to the Governor's allegation that the quality of higher education is not up to the standard, the minister added, "For the exact reason to improve the quality, Chief Minister MK Stalin introduced schemes like Naan Mudhalvan and Pudhumai penn."

Through the Naan Mudhalvan scheme, students are being trained from school-level. And, in the case of engineering and government arts and science colleges, the government has taken steps to reach out to firms to train students for the future.

"Besides this, the governor has been conducting events without the involvement of the higher education minister who is also the pro-chancellor. Additionally, it is the Raj Bhavan that decides the event schedule for university convocation, which exposes his autocracy, "pointed out the minister.

Speaking further, the minister said, "It is routine practice to conduct convocation at the respective universities, but the governor has recently stated that the convocation will be held at the Raj Bhavan and not at Tamil Nadu Dr. J. Jayalalithaa Fisheries University (TNJFU) in Nagapattinam."

Lastly, the minister noted that the governor is keen on creating politics and nothing else.

Additionally, the minister refused the claim that the State universities cannot function independently. "We have directed the respective universities to employ needed professors and make changes on a need basis, "he added.