The list of aspirants to the post of Vice-Chancellor of the University of Madras has as many as 177 persons, including around 25 women and professors from within the university.
Among the applicants is Kalyani Mathivanan, whose tenure at the Madurai Kamaraj University ended with allegations of arbitrarily removing some professors from the post of head of department.
The prestigious 163-year-old university has been in serious financial trouble in the last decade.
Mismanagement of funds has landed the university in financial crisis in the past decade.
The university is also grappling with other issues. The Vice-Chancellor who takes over would not only have to deal with a heavily polarised caste-conscious institution, but also set right the wrongs the previous administrators could not correct.
P. Duraisamy, who completed his tenure on May 26 as Vice-Chancellor, managed to bring some amount of order in the financial structure.
But there is still a large amount of work to be done: making the examination system transparent and ending corruption and caste-ridden polarisation.
“I am surprised to see that a substantial number of women have applied. Madras University has never had a lady as a V-C till now. It would be a welcome change,” said P. T. Srinivasan, former Syndicate Member and head of the Department of Management Studies.
Source: https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/25-women-apply-for-v-c-post-at-madras-university/article31774553.ece
