UGC draft rules on appointing VCs an assault on federalism: M.K. Stalin

The University Grants Commission's draft regulations 2025 granting governors broader control over vice-chancellor appointments and allowing non-academics to hold these posts were a direct assault on federalism and state rights, Tamil Nadu chief minister M.K. Stalin said on Tuesday, 7 January 2025.

This "authoritarian" move by the BJP-led union government sought to centralise power and undermine democratically elected state governments, he commented on the draft UGC regulations, 2025, released by union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan in the national capital of Delhi on 6 January 2025.

The regulations prescribe minimum qualifications for appointments and promotion of teachers and academic staff in universities and colleges and measures for the maintenance of standards in higher education.

At the event, Pradhan said that these draft reforms and guidelines would infuse innovation, inclusivity, flexibility and dynamism in every aspect of higher education, empower teachers and academic staff, strengthen academic standards and pave the way for achieving educational excellence.

Taking exception, the CM said in a post on social media platform X: 'Education must remain in the hands of those chosen by the people, not dictated by governors acting at the BJP government’s behest.'

Stalin said Tamil Nadu, which led the nation with the highest number of top-ranking HEIs, will not stay silent as our institutions were stripped of autonomy.

'Education is a subject under the Concurrent List in our Constitution, and hence we consider that the move of the UGC to issue this notification unilaterally as unconstitutional. This overreach is unacceptable, and Tamil Nadu will fight it legally and politically,' he said in the post.