Tamil Nadu Politicians ‘Out Of Sync’ With Future Generations: Anna University Vice-Chancellor 

Newly-appointed Anna University Vice-Chancellor M K Surappa has said that Tamil politicians who are opposing his appointment are “out of sync with future generations”. Brushing aside the opposition from parties like the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), Surappa said people have to be educated about such politicians (those opposing appointments on grounds of state, language), said The Times of India in a report. “This is why the country has not been able to perform to its best potential,” the daily quoted him as saying.

On Thursday (5 April), Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit appointed Surappa as the vice-chancellor of Anna University. Surappa had earlier served as director of Indian Institute of Technology, Ropar from 2009 to 2015.

A honorary professor, Department of Materials Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, Surappa is a fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineering. He has 150 research publications and four patents to his credit.

Meanwhile, Purohit said in a statement that Surappa had been appointed legally in a transparent manner. The appointment had been made after a selection panel short-listed nine persons and interviewed each one of them on 31 March. The same day the panel forwarded a list of three person, who were again interviewed by the Governor. Since he did not want anyone to intervene on any of the candidates’ behalf, the appointment was made the same evening when the Governor interviewed all the three separately.

There is no political motive behind the appointment, which had been made with the interests of the university, its teachers and students in mind, he said.