Tamil Nadu Higher Education Minister K. Ponmudy on Thursday said that Governor R.N. Ravi has refused to sign the file requesting the latter’s approval as Chancellor to award an honorary doctorate to freedom fighter and veteran communist leader N. Sankaraiah at the upcoming Madurai Kamaraj University convocation.
In a statement, Mr. Ponmudy said that the file was submitted to the Governor based on the resolutions passed by MKU’s Syndicate and the Senate, which are the decision-making bodies of the university, to award the honorary doctorate to Mr. Sankaraiah.
He said the Syndicate first passed the resolution on August 18, 2023 to award the honorary doctorate in recognition of the services of the centenarian leader, who spent eight years in jail for participating in the freedom struggle and later dedicated his life to work for the poor and served as an exemplary member of the Legislative Assembly. The Senate passed a resolution on September 20, 2023 to award the degree at the upcoming convocation of the university
Mr. Ponmudy said the powers to award Honoris Causa was granted to the Senate as per the Madurai Kamaraj University Act of 1965. He further said the section concerned in the Act also mentioned that the degree certificate should carry the signature of the university Chancellor, who is the Governor.
The Minister urged the Governor to award the honorary doctorate to Mr. Sankaraiah at the university’s convocation planned on November 2, 2023 as per the resolutions passed by the Syndicate and the Senate.
Refusal condemned
State secretary of Communist Party of India (Marxist) K. Balakrishnan condemned the Governor for his refusal to grant the degree. Recalling that Mr. Sankaraiah dropped out of education to participate in the freedom struggle, he said there were requests from various sections of people that the leader should be awarded a degree that he could not complete [in his youth]. He said the Tamil Nadu government accepted this request and announced that the honorary doctorate will be conferred on Mr. Sankaraiah.
There was no response on this count from the Governor’s office.
