more-in Association of University Teachers (AUT), Tamil Nadu, has urged the State Government to withdraw the private universities bill, which it had passed in the last Assembly session. Academic freedom “Universities should function democratically with academic freedom. They should be accountable to the public and submit themselves to academic audit. Creation of private universities would ruin the growth of all round education for all sections of the society. The AUT urges the Government of Tamil Nadu not to compromise higher education in any manner and withdraw the private universities bill,” it said at its general council meeting held here on Sunday. It also urged the Central Government to not replace the University Grants Commission with a new structure. UGC was a time-tested academic body and any attempt to replace it with a bureaucratic set up would be a retrograde move. The AUT also expelled its president J. Gandhiraj by ratifying the decision taken at the Central Executive Committee on July 1.It also expelled a member, Pasupathy, accused of sexual harassment charges. The reason for expelling Mr. Gandhiraj was bringing disrepute to the organisation and attempting to break its unity and integrity, the AUT said.

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