Professors of Anna University, the premier engineering institute in the state, on Tuesday appealed to Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit not to give his assent to a bill bifurcating the institution passed by the Assembly.
According to the Bill, four institutes, including the prestigious College of Engineering, Guindy (CEG) and the Madras Institute of Technology (MIT), that are originally part of the varsity will now be known as Anna Technological and Research University (ARTU), while all affiliated colleges would come under Anna University.
Professors and former Vice-Chancellors of the Anna University scoff at the renaming of the “parent institute” saying the move would only benefit private colleges as the name “Anna University” is known worldwide. As a mark of their opposition to the move, professors wore black badges on Monday.
After wearing black badges to work, the Anna University Teachers’ Association (AUTA) on Tuesday wrote to Purohit asking him to advise the Tamil Nadu Government to make “appropriate amendments” to the Bill.
“We submit our strong objection to the recent passing of the Bill in the Tamil Nadu Assembly giving away the name of 'Anna University to the proposed new affiliating University in the process of bifurcation,” Prof. Arul Aram, President of Anna University Teachers’ Association (AUTA), wrote in the letter.
Giving away the name of Anna University to the affiliating colleges amounts to robbing of the intellectual property rights, he said the research is redundant for a university's name. “Besides, it is a wise convention to retain the name of a parent university, and give a new name to the offspring,” the letter said.
Certificates of students who graduate from CEG, MIT, School of Architecture and Planning (SAP) and Alagappa College of Technology (ACTECH) will no more carry the tag “Anna University”, the professors say, adding that it will be the “biggest injustice” to the students and the university as a whole.
Anna University was formed in the 1970s by bringing CEG, MIT, SAP and ACTECH under it, while private engineering colleges were affiliated to University of Madras and other varsities that functioned in various cities of the state.
In 2002, all engineering colleges in the state were brought under the control of Anna University and the government had last week moved a bill in the Assembly seeking to bifurcate the varsity for “administrative purposes.”.