Bhoopathy’s appointment triggered a row due to his alleged right-wing leanings and doubts over his eligibility for the job.
Published Aug 16, 2022 | 10:09 PM ⚊ Updated Aug 16, 2022 | 10:09 PM
Kalvi TV was launched by the AIADMK government to telecast educational programmes for students. (Kalvi TV/ Facebook)
The Tamil Nadu government has put on hold an order of the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) appointing K Manikanda Bhoopathi as CEO of Kalvi TV, a state-run educational television channel, sources told South First.
The decision comes after the School Education Department and DMK minister Anbil Mahesh came under sharp criticism, even from DMK supporters, for appointing Bhoopathy, who is allegedly close to right-wing organisations, as the head of Kalvi TV, which was launched by the previous AIADMK government to telecast educational programmes for students from LKG to Class 12.
According to a note from the proceedings of the SCERT meeting on 8 August, Bhoopathi was appointed as CEO of Kalvi TV on a temporary basis for a period of two years, and on a consolidated monthly remuneration of Rs 1.5 lakh.
When this came to light, many objected to Bhoopathy’s appointment, mainly because of his supposed right-wing political leanings.
Bhoopathy co-founded Chanakyaa, a popular right wing Tamil YouTube channel which has over 1.11 million subscribers currently, along with Rangaraj Pandey, a senior journalist who is also a known right-wing sympathiser.
According to Bhoopathi’s LinkedIn profile, he has also worked with Xposee Media as OTT consultant; headed the digital media business of popular Tamil channel Puthiyathalamurai; worked as news and current affairs consultant for NDTV-Hindi and Thanthi TV; and led the video production at Dinamalar.
Manikanda Bhoopathy was the co-founder of Chanakyaa, a prominent right-wing YouTube channel. (Supplied)
Due to his alleged right-wing political leanings and questions over his eligibility for the job, Bhoopathy’s appointment as the CEO of Kalvi TV triggered a row, with many demanding the resignation of Tamil Nadu School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh. The hashtag #Resign_AnbilMahesh also trended on Twitter.
When asked about the controversy, Anbil Mahesh said: ”Going by the logic of the media, Rangaraj Pandey interacts with me on WhatsApp and expresses his opinion on several issues. But that doesn’t mean I belong to that organisation (right wing). You should only take into account their work.”
He added that imposition of any ideology in the field of education will not be allowed.
“We will not allow imposition of any ideology and that is what the chief minister has told us. We will ensure that (imposition of an ideology) doesn’t happen,” the minister added.
However, according to sources, the Chief Minister’s Office intervened on Tuesday, 16 August, and put the appointment of Bhoopathy as Kalvi TV CEO on hold due to the massive outrage on social media platforms.
Apart from the alleged ideological leanings of Bhoopathy, many have also raised doubts about his eligibility for the job.
Speaking to South First, education activist Prince Gajendra Babu questioned Bhoopathi’s contribution to educational programmes.
“What is his contribution towards educational programmes? What is his understanding of school education? The content meant for Kalvi TV is important for the learning and development of the child. It is necessary for the person to have relevant experience in designing educational programmes so that it is effective,” he said.
Babu also questioned the very need for appointing someone as the CEO of Kalvi TV.
“Why is such a post needed for an educational TV channel? It has been successfully running for few years now. When the government says it has no money to hire teachers, what is the need to hire someone on the salary of over Rs 1 lakh per month? he asked.
On 28 May, the School Education Department had put out an advertisement for the post of CEO for the educational TV channel.
The department said that it is undertaking an exercise to re-brand Kalvi TV and its approach to education, so as to make it more relevant, useful and, most importantly, appealing for children, adolescents, young people, teachers, and parents.
In that advertisement, the department mentioned that it was looking for a “dynamic CEO” with prior experience of five to eight years in “educational programme production and management in government or private sector”. The desired educational qualification was listed as “degree in media business for electronic media/visual communication/educational technology media production.”
Later, the department issued an addendum where the requirement of prior experience was altered to five to eight years’ experience in “educational video programme production and management/ TV channel programme production and management in government or private sector”.
The educational qualifications were also changed to “degree in visual communication/ journalism and mass communication/ mass communication/ developmental communication/ communication/ electronic media/ educational technology media production/ media and communication”.
