15/09/2026
The Tamil Nadu government has brought an amendment to the Private Universities Act, to enable new universities to mushroom.
A task force functioning under the Union Government's Ministry of Commerce and Industry, claiming to promote "Ease of doing business," has been working to remove the restrictions and regulations imposed on industrial enterprises in the name of people's struggles, workers' struggles, and environmental protection. Hundreds of officials are paid from public money to work around the clock thinking about what private businesses need and how to best deliver it to them. It is based on their advice that the Vijay government has brought this legislative amendment.
Through this, starting a private university in Tamil Nadu has been made easier. Hereafter, private universities can be started with less land and a permanent fund reduced by half.
Rather than saying the TVK government is firm in its policy of privatizing education, it must be said that it is acting with full vigor. An agreement was signed in Vijay's presence to build the first campus of the University of Western Australia in Chennai at a cost of Rs. 125 crore. In the 2026 budget, the responsibility of building and managing student hostels under the name "Tamil Nadu Sudar" was given to private capitalists, and now this legislative amendment to help private universities—within just a little over a hundred days of assuming office, the TVK government has been taking successive measures.
Rulers who say they will increase employment by creating new investments boast that they have attracted investments worth so many lakh crores during their rule. To attract such investments, the states forgo taxes, acquire land from people and change laws according to demands of the investors. State governments compete with each other and issue announcements offering land for starting industries, arranging infrastructure facilities like roads, electricity, water, creating a workforce with the skills capitalists need that works for low wages, tax exemptions, and guarantees of return on investment.
As far as privatisation and corporate service is concerned , there is no difference between the Modi government, the Stalin government, and the Vijay government.
All these parties function on the basis of this economic policy. In this regard, privatization must be introduced in education sector, and the obstacles to it must be removed. That is what the Union Regime says, The Vijat Govt. is using the Modi Govt techno bureacratic model, and it will be a real setback to Tamil Nadu creating a set back to equality and inclusive education and development. The DMK government tried to do similar things through the 2025 bill. However, DMK was forced to roll back unpopular policies due to opposition. Vijay's TVK government is pushing agendas without a dialogue or public consultation.
TVK Races all other political parties in Privatizing service sector.
TVK government has introduced a bill titled "Tamil Nadu Private Universities (Amendment) Bill, 2026." This bill has been brought to remove the restrictions that exist for creating new private universities in Tamil Nadu.
Before delving into this amendment brought by the Vijay government, it is necessary to understand the existing laws for creating universities in Tamil Nadu and the efforts made by previous governments to amend them.
In 2019, when Edappadi Palaniswami was Chief Minister, the regulations for establishing private universities in Tamil Nadu were laid down through the Tamil Nadu Private Universities Act, 2019.
Under this Act, a minimum of 100 acres of continuous land was defined as required to start a private university. Similarly, it was made mandatory under this Act that the university must maintain a minimum permanent endowment fund of Rs. 50 crore to manage its administrative expenses in the event that the university is dissolved in the future.
Private education entrepreneurs had been continuously demanding that these rules be relaxed. Following AIADMK, DMK, which came to power, introduced the Tamil Nadu Private Universities Amendment Bill in 2025.
Although that bill did not speak about new universities, it paved the way for converting already functioning private and government-aided colleges into "Brownfield Universities." It also relaxed the land requirement for establishing private universities, reducing it from 100 acres to 50 acres.
This caused a massive controversy at the time. In particular, a fear arose that if government-aided colleges that had been functioning for many years with government funding and subsidies were converted into private universities, the control over their fees, reservation, the job status of teachers, and educational opportunities for poor students would be affected.
With teacher organizations and political parties opposing it strongly, the Stalin government announced that it would reconsider the bill. Eventually, in February 2026, the bill was withdrawn.
The demand of education businessmen that the 100-acre land requirement and the Rs. 50 crore deposit fund restriction brought in 2019 should be removed did not materialize.
Relaxing these two conditions is precisely the purpose of the Tamil Nadu Private Universities (Amendment) Bill currently brought by the Vijay government.
According to the new rules, the minimum land for starting a private university:
In the Greater Chennai Corporation area – 12 acres
In other municipal corporations and municipalities – 18 acres
In other areas – 25 acres
Thus, in Chennai alone, the 100 acres of land previously required is being reduced to 12 acres. It is being reduced to almost one-tenth.
Similarly, the permanent endowment fund is being reduced from Rs. 50 crore to Rs. 25 crore. This reduced fund condition will also apply to some private universities already established under the 2019 Act. That is, private universities already established under the 2019 Act can reduce their permanent endowment fund from Rs. 50 crore to Rs. 25 crore.
The government has given an explanation for bringing these amendments. It is difficult to find 100 acres of continuous land around Chennai. The government says the new sizes have been determined taking into account the space needed for educational buildings, hostels, playgrounds, laboratories, etc. The government has also stated that these changes were made based on the recommendations of the Union government's "Compliance Reduction and Deregulation Task Force."
This task force functions under the Union government's Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Claiming to promote "Ease of doing business," their full-time job is to identify and remove the restrictions and regulations imposed on industrial enterprises in the name of people's struggles, workers' struggles, and environmental protection. Hundreds of officials are paid from public money to work around the clock thinking about what private capitalists need and how to best deliver it to them. It is based on their advice that the Vijay government has brought this legislative amendment.
Through this, starting a private university in Tamil Nadu has been made easier. Hereafter, private universities can be started with less land and a permanent fund reduced by half.
Rather than saying the TVK government is firm in its policy of privatizing education, it must be said that it is acting with full vigor. An agreement was signed in Vijay's presence to build the first campus of the University of Western Australia in Chennai at a cost of Rs. 125 crore. In the 2026 budget, the responsibility of building and managing student hostels under the name "Tamil Nadu Sudar" was given to private capitalists, and now this legislative amendment to help private universities—within just a little over a hundred days of assuming office, the TVK government has been taking successive measures.
Rulers who say they will increase employment by creating new investments boast that they have attracted investments worth so many lakh crores during their rule. To attract such investments, they shower many concessions on capitalists. State governments compete with each other and issue announcements offering land for starting industries, arranging infrastructure facilities like roads, electricity, water, creating a workforce with the skills capitalists need that works for low wages, tax exemptions, and guarantees of return on investment.
As far as privatisation and corporate service is concerned , there is no difference between the Modi government, the Stalin government, and the Vijay government.
All these parties function on the basis of this economic policy. In this regard, privatization must be introduced in education sector, and the obstacles to it must be removed. That is what the Union Regime says, that is what the DMK government tried to do through the 2025 bill. Today, the TVK government has accomplished it.
