Anna University to become a single entity from August 1

Anna University will once again become a single affiliating university for engineering colleges all over the State from August 1.

Chief Minister Jayalalithaa announced the date from which five regional Anna Universities of Technology (AUT) functioning in different parts of the State will be merged under Anna University, which was the state’s first technical university established in 1978.

The DMK regime had split the Anna University to create regional universities in Chennai, Madurai, Coimbatore, Tiruchi and Tirunelveli from 2007 for various reasons such as decentralising administration of technical education and creating geographical proximity with affiliated engineering colleges. Anna University, the parent institution, was converted into a non-affiliating university, with some constituent colleges under it. Policy decision However, the present AIADMK government took a policy decision to merge the five regional universities and passed a bill to that effect in September 2011. Thereafter, it appointed a monitoring committee under senior civil servant Sheela Balakrishnan to study all aspects of the proposed merger, including the status of students, teachers, nonteaching staff, moveable and immoveable assets and presented a detailed report.

“Based on examination of this report, the Chief Minister ordered the merger of the five AUTs with Anna University, Chennai, and it will come into force from August 1,” an official press release said.

As a result of this move, 535 engineering colleges will be affiliated to Anna University, and 12 constituent colleges under Tiruchi, Tirunelveli, Chennai and Madurai AUTs will become constituent colleges under it. thehindu.com