Describing the post of the Governor as akin to that of a manager, Tamil Nadu Minister for Electricity, Energy Resources, and Law R. Nirmalkumar, on Monday, said that the State government should retain the power of appointing Vice-Chancellors to State-run universities instead of the Governor, since governments have a closer understanding of students’ and people’s needs.

Answering questions from the media on the standoff between the State government and the Governor over the appointment of Vice-Chancellors to the State-run universities, Mr. Kumar said, “Governors should first visit universities and apprise themselves of the requirements of the students, the people, and the government. That never happens, and Governors often have no idea about these issues. It would be appropriate if the government appoints Vice-Chancellors. We stick by this stand.”

He said that the appointment of Governors was mostly political, and whether or not they have the ability to govern universities was a question.

Earlier, handing over admission cards to the 2026-27 batch of students of the Tamil Nadu Dr. Ambedkar Law University (TNDALU), Mr. Kumar said that the State government has started work to set up a world-class law college in Chennai for women. “We are in the process of identifying land for setting up the college,” he added.

The present government, he maintained, has brought in certain changes to the process of appointment of lawyers to various government posts, such as Advocate General, Public Prosecutors, and Government Pleaders, in order to ensure “clean administration”. The background of the candidates is duly verified to ensure they are without any criminal record and are being appointed purely through merit, Mr. Nirmal said.

Justice V. Bharathidasan, former Madras High Court Judge and Convenor of Vice-Chancellor Convenor Committee, TNDALU, said that the cut-off marks for this year’s admission were higher than those of the last academic year. Besides, the number of women students seeking admission in the university and affiliate institutions has crossed 50%.

The TNDALU has 15 government law colleges and 11 private colleges affiliated to it, offering five-year LLB degree course with a total intake of 2,332 students. The School of Excellence in Law offers five-year LLB Honours degree to 624 students.

P. Sumathy, Law Secretary; E. Om Prakash, Member, Vice-Chancellor Convenor Committee; Gowri Ramesh, Registrar, TNDALU, and V. Balaji, Dean, TNDALU, also spoke.