Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, flush with funds following the State Eligibility Test, has gifted its Vice-Chancellor with a brand-new and gleaming Mercedes Benz. Not to be outdone, other senior university staff like Registrar, Controller of Examinations, and the director of the School of Distance Education, will each get a Toyota Etios priced around Rs8 lakh.
It is not that V-C James Pitchai does not have an official car. Right now he is ferried across the State in a Toyota Camry while others mentioned above have their official sedans to drive around.
According to the university authorities, the cars are being purchased using a part of the Rs5.65-crore surplus fund which the university earned through fees paid by candidates from Tamil Nadu who appeared for the State Eligibility Test (SET) in March 2011.
The SET is an annual screening test held by the Government of Tamil Nadu through Bharathiar University to select lecturers and assistant professors to various universities in the State. Candidates have to pay Rs1,000 as examination fee. Those belonging to OBC and SC/ST need to pay Rs750 and Rs250 respectively.
With thousands of post-graduates churned out by the universities every year in the State, the number of candidates appearing for the SET could be anybody’s guess. Holding the one-day examination is not a big deal as Bharathiar University has all the infrastructure and staff to execute the same.
Over the years, the university officials themselves were surprised over the ever increasing surplus fund collected under the category of SET. Though the university is severely short of infrastructural and academic needs of students, the authorities chose to overlook the same and go for luxury sedans for their top management. Students complain that there are no sufficient hostels, toilets and libraries.
Interestingly, research scholars and faculty members complained that the departments were not allowed to buy even basic scientific research journals. “We come to know about latest developments in our areas of research through colleagues in other institutions like IITs and IISc. Some of them, with whom we have good friendship, inform us about news or articles
which they might have seen in scientific journals,” said a senior faculty member.
Subscription for scientific journals costs less than Rs2,000. But the university has no provision to buy scientific journals or basic research publications. The V-C, who got irritated when asked about his new acquisition, told mediapersons that the Mercedes Benz has been purchased for him to visit the 71 examination centres during the SET. When asked what was wrong with the present car, the authorities said the surplus fund from SET could be used only for buying vehicles and not for improving the facilities in hostels.
This is not the first time that the universities in Tamil Nadu court controversies over purchase of vehicles for senior officials. The Anna University of Technology, Tiruchi, (since merged with Anna University, Chennai in 2012) was in the news when it purchased a SUV for its V-C’s use on the campus in Tiruchi. “He had another official vehicle for his use in Chennai where he has his residence. But we are not allowed to ask such inconvenient questions though we too are denied basic research facilities,” said a faculty member who was honoured with the Best Scientist Award by Tamil Nadu Government.
Prof SP Thyagarajan, former V-C, Madras University and Tamil Nadu’s leading educationist, said the responsibility of the V-C was to ensure that the student community gets at least the barest minimum needs like libraries, laboratories and toilets. “Once these things are assured, no one will question university authorities if they opt for high-end cars or high-flying life. The V-C is a role model for students as well as the teaching community. What counts is how he or she motivates the students through selfless service. It is not the car in which he travels that elevates him to a position of respect,” said Prof Thyagarajan.
Sadly enough, the Bharathiar University V-C’s decision to switch over to the Mercedes Benz car comes at a time when 17-year-old Muthu Bramma Nayagi, who scored an impressive 1,130 out of 1,200 marks in the 2013 Plus Two examination was forced to discontinue her studies because of poverty. But Nayagi is no ordinary mortal. She is the grand niece of the legendary freedom fighter VOC Chidambaranar, popularly known as Kappalottiya Thamizhagan, the Tamilian who launched India’s first ocean going merchant vessel, and gave away everything to the country’s freedom movement.
All that Nayagi may require for her higher education could not be more than what the university pays for a single Toyota Etios.