R N Ravi rejects Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission chief nominee

The Governor has returned the file on appointing former DGP C Sylendra Babu, who retired in June this year, as the chairman of Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC), which has 14 other members.

Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi has opened multiple fronts with the DMK dispensation by returning the file on the appointment of the chairman of the Tamil Nadu Public Services Commission (TNPSC) and telling universities that they are not under any obligation to follow the common syllabus on education framed by the state government.

Sources said Ravi returned the file on the appointment of C Sylendra Babu, who retired as Director General of Police in June this year, as the chairman of the TNPSC with several questions, including on whether rules were followed while choosing him for the post.

They said the Governor also sought to know from the government whether it has followed the directions of the Supreme Court while appointing Babu and whether it advertised for the post in newspapers.

“The file has been returned to the government,” a source in the know said, adding that the government will respond to him in detail. The Governor, while returning the file, is believed to have stressed on the transparency of such appointments.

The government decided to appoint Babu, who is quite popular among students and younger generations for his videos on fitness and career guidance, after he retired as DGP on June 30, 2023. TNPSC is responsible for conducting exams to recruit staff for government departments and the body consists of 13 members.

Opening yet another front with the state government, the Governor, in his capacity as Chancellor of state-funded universities, wrote to the Vice-Chancellors informing them that they are not under any obligation to follow the common syllabus on higher education framed by the state government.

The higher education department had been pressurising the universities to follow the common syllabus framed by it, much to the discomfiture of the institutions, who have been opposing the move. Sources said the Governor sought the opinion of the University Grants Commission (UGC), which said universities shall design courses in accordance with the regulations, frameworks, and guidelines issued by it.

“This puts to rest any doubt or ambiguity regarding the common syllabus. You are free to have syllabi as designed by the competent body of your institutions and are under no obligation to follow the common syllabus designed by the Tamil Nadu State Council for Higher Education,” the Governor is believed to have told the VCs.

The governor is involved in several running battles with the state government on a host of issues, including NEET. The DMK government has also been accusing the governor of “unnecessarily interfering” in the functioning of universities. A bill to remove the Governor as Chancellor and replace him with the Chief Minister is pending before the Raj Bhavan.