TN Governor RN Ravi Alleges Police Threatened VCs To Skip Academic Meet: 'Knocked Hotel Room At Midnight'

According to Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi, multiple state universities opted out of the event after allegedly receiving directives from the state government not to participate.

RN Ravi emphasised that the conference was purely academic, aimed at raising educational standards in the state, with “no political agenda” behind it.

Source : X

Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi has made serious allegations against the state government, claiming that Tamil Nadu police threatened university vice-chancellors to dissuade them from attending a two-day academic conference in Udhagamandalam. According to the Governor, multiple state universities opted out of the event after allegedly receiving directives from the state government not to participate—a claim he says has been communicated to him both verbally and in writing.

RN Ravi Alleges 'Threat' From Police

Speaking at the inaugural session of the Conference of Vice-Chancellors from State, Central, and Private Universities of Tamil Nadu, hosted at Raj Bhavan in Udhagamandalam, Ravi, as per ANI, said, "As of now, one of our VCs is in the police station. Some vice chancellors had reached Ooty, and an unprecedented event occurred. It never happened before. There was a midnight knock on their doors, and the secret police, a special branch of the state, informed them that if they participated in the conference, they would not be able to return home and reunite with their families. I advised them to take care of their family," 

He emphasised that the conference was purely academic, aimed at raising educational standards in the state, with “no political agenda” behind it.

The event was attended by Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar. 

Hon'ble Vice-President, Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar addressed the Inaugural Session of the Conference of Vice-Chancellors of State, Central and Private Universities of Tamil Nadu at Raj Bhavan in Udhagamandalam, Tamil Nadu today. @rajbhavan_tn #ConferenceOfVCs pic.twitter.com/PO3JeSFKCi

— Vice-President of India (@VPIndia) April 25, 2025

 

Reflecting on the state of education in Tamil Nadu, the Governor expressed concern over the performance of students in government schools. “From 2021, am doing this meeting. Half the students in a government school in high school can't beat a classroom test score. We need to improve the quality,” he said. He also alleged that government high school students can't read Class 2 textbooks, as per the report. 

While he acknowledged the state’s high gross enrollment ratio—above 50 percent—and the annual production of over 6,500 PhDs, he criticised the quality of research, noting that less than one percent of these scholars qualify for the UGC’s NET-JRF, which assesses research aptitude.