The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : I am leaving a happy man: Balagurusamy

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, May 15, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

I am leaving a happy man: Balagurusamy

Staff Reporter

`Problems of affiliated colleges have been sorted out' There has been a three-fold increase in engineering colleges, but shortage of qualified faculty

CHENNAI: "I have no regrets and am leaving a happy and satisfied man," was how Anna University Vice-Chancellor E Balagurusamy summed up his three-year-long tenure.

Speaking to reporters here on the last day of an eventful career on Saturday, the outgoing Vice-Chancellor said he had put all necessary systems in place to ensure quality in technical education but the challenge still remained for his successor to take them forward "with a commitment for the cause."

"I have always worried about the quality of our education, and more importantly, about the quality of the people who manage it. All the problems with affiliated colleges have been sorted out. There has been a total changeover in undergraduate and postgraduate curricula, and regulations for doctoral qualifications, keeping in mind the needs of the industry and the advancements in science and technology," he said.

For the first time in the varsity's history, all vacancies had been filled up.

A large number of new programmes had been introduced and the standard of examinations had also gone up. "My aim had been to ensure that Tamil Nadu comes first in the number of placements made and that multinational companies which came here filled up all posts here before looking else where. So far, only 20 per cent of our students received placement last year." To improve this, we have taken steps to ensure that the quality of the faculty is improved, he said.

The number of engineering colleges had gone up three times in the last five years but there was a shortage of qualified faculty. "The challenge for the next Vice-Chancellor would lie in faculty improvement."

Prof. Balagurusamy also attributed the recent scam over answer sheets to the "mental and physical pressure" on students and the fear of failure that they would lose out in placements.

He had never sought a second term and no political interference had been brought to bear upon him, though he had received threats from various other quarters. "But I have shown that individuals too have an impact upon the system."

In a lighter vein, the Vice-Chancellor also said till now he had never had time for anything else — "not even a day's casual leave" — but from Sunday, he would be "`unemployed". He had received several offers but would only take up a job that called for serving society and not for monetary gains. He also hoped he would have more time now for writing a few books.

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