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Disparities in funding to be raised at meet

MADURAI: Disparities in giving funds to universities will be among the key issues to be raised at the meeting of Vice-Chancellors being convened by the University Grants Commission (UGC) in New Delhi on March 25 and 26.

G. Thiruvasagam, Vice-Chancellor, University of Madras, who visited The Hindu office here on Wednesday for an informal meeting, said Central universities had been receiving huge grants whereas the grants given to State universities were very negligible in comparison.

“We are going to represent this matter to the UGC. Huge grants are given to a Central university, while a State university like the University of Madras, which was among the first to be started in the country, gets nowhere near that amount,” he said.

The Vice-Chancellors' meeting in New Delhi will be chaired by Ved Prakash, UGC Chairman.

Dr. Thiruvasagam felt that there should not be any sort of discrimination between State and Central universities “at a time when we are talking about quality, expansion and accessibility of higher education to all.” He wanted to know from the UGC what yardstick it followed for giving grants to universities.

Retirement age

Another issue expected to be raised at the meet is the difference in retirement age in State and Central universities.

“When the same qualification norms are followed for appointment of faculty, then why should there be variation in retirement age of staff in State and Central universities. It has to be same by any logic,” the Vice-Chancellor said.

Reservations

During his interaction with The Hindu staff, Dr. Thiruvasagam expressed his reservations over the entry of foreign universities into India.

“Personally, I am against foreign universities. It needs lot of debate as there are concerns about the recognition of their degrees by the UGC. There is no clarity and we should not rush in this matter,” he observed.

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