Trichy college plea on philosophy course rejected

TRICHY: The state government has rejected National College's appeal to scrap the philosophy course. But regional joint director of collegiate education (RJDCE), Trichy, Ravi Shankar told TOI on Tuesday that since he was holding additional charge as regional director, he was not in a position to implement the government order. Ravi Shankar, principal of Thiruverumbur Government College of Arts and Science, holds additional charge as RJDCE by virtue of his seniority.
Three of the six students who sought admission to the philosophy course in National College met Ravi Shankar, but the latter could not make much headway in this regard. "I have personally verified the bonafides of the students, including their ration cards, since apprehensions were raised in certain quarters that the students did not exist in the first place," Ravi Shankar said. However, things did not move forward successfully for the admission of the students who had come to the college on Tuesday.
However, on Tuesday night, Ravi Shankar got his freedom as he has been appointed RJDCE of Chennai region with immediate effect, and the principal of Namakkal Government College of Arts and Science, Veeramani, will step in as full-fledged RJDCE. National College, by a resolution in December, 2011, first made a proposal under Section 25 of the Tamil Nadu Private Colleges (Regulations) Act, 1976, to the Director of Collegiate Education to wind up the philosophy course citing poor enrolment, but the move was rejected by the director in April, 2012. On the contrary, the director asked the college to find ways to improve student intake. The government's position was that since it was the government that paid the salaries of the teachers, the college should not have any qualms in running the philosophy course.
National College appealed to additional chief secretary for higher education, Dr T S Sridhar, who rejected it saying since as many as 37 assistant professors were serving in philosophy departments of eight government aided colleges in the state, and since the course was unique, the appeal to close it down had been rejected.
Meanwhile, state president of the Association of University Teachers, K Pandiyan, told TOI, "The aided colleges have become a law unto themselves. Have they grown in such stature that they can disown a government order? Even today, National College refused to admit the six students to the philosophy course. This is a mockery of the system."