Saturday, Mar 13, 2010

Madurai: Around 90 per cent of the law students preferred to write their examinations in Tamil and hence the Government has allotted Rs.20 lakh this year for updating the Tamil textbooks that were prepared about five years ago, said S. Sachidanandam, Vice-Chancellor, Tamil Nadu Dr. Ambedkar Law University here on Friday. Addressing students at the valedictory function of a State-level inter-law collegiate cultural competitions here on Friday, he said that there was a strong connection between legal studies and politics. “Many law graduates have become successful Ministers, MPs and MLAs. Hence, the law students are bound to be a little emotive.”

Mr. Sachidanandam said that the law college in Chennai had obtained recognition from the University Grants Commission after he assumed office. Steps were being taken to obtain similar recognition for all other law colleges in the State. “We will get it in two or three months. This will help us augment the infrastructure of our colleges,” he said.

Talent pool
Recalling his meeting with the Union Law Minister, Veerappa Moily, recently, he said that the Minister was keen on tapping talent from law colleges across the country. “He wants to create an ocean of legal talent. Establishing law schools of excellence will only benefit the elite. On the other hand, concentrating on existing colleges would help people across the social spectrum,” he said.

He pointed out that the fee charged in the law colleges in the State was very low in order to help students from poor economic background. “Hence, I request you to utilise the opportunity and improve your socio-economic status. Even the entrance test has been abolished for the joining the course and the students are selected only on the basis of marks obtained in qualifying examinations.” The Vice-chancellor also told the gathering that steps were being taken to connect the law colleges with the law department electronically in order to reduce paper work. He said that a proposal had been forwarded to the Centre for conducting a Rs. 30-lakh project on consumerism by involving 10 students from every law college in the State for data collection.

Later, he gave away prizes to winners of various competitions held as part of the cultural festival titled ‘Law Fest 2010.' S. Radhakrishnan Nair, Principal, Government Law College, Madurai; S.M. Balakrishnan, Assistant Professor of the College; and A. Mahaboob Batcha, Managing Trustee of the Society for Community Organisation (SOCO) Trust, participated.