Kerala University on Saturday urged Governor Arif Mohammad Khan to withdraw the method of choosing the following Vice Chancellor and begin a brand new search-cum-selection committee. The demand for the college got here after Khan, who can be the college’s chancellor, didn’t embody a nominee from the college senate.
In a movement, the college stated that the formation of the committee, with out involving a Senate nominee, was “undemocratic, illegal and against the University Act”.
Earlier this month, Khan had arrange a search committee with nominees of the UGC and the Chancellor, however didn’t embody a nominee from the University (Senate). The University Act states that the committee will need to have a nominee from the Senate. Reportedly, because the CPI(M)-dominated Senate didn’t advocate its candidate, Khan solely notified the two-member committee.
The CPI(M) is of the view that the governor constituted the committee in “haste” in opposition to the backdrop of the transfer to introduce laws to present the federal government an higher hand within the choice committee. Earlier this week, the state cupboard had ratified the draft of a invoice, which will probably be launched within the meeting session beginning subsequent week. The Bill has a number of clauses that take away the supremacy of the Governor as Vice-Chancellor within the choice of V-Cs, amongst different issues.
During the Senate assembly held on Saturday, one of many members introduced in regards to the “pending recommendation of the Senate Member for Search Committee” to the discover of VC Dr Mahadevan Pillai. Thereafter, the difficulty was introduced to the Senate as an agenda.
Senate member advocate KH Babujan stated that establishing of the two-member search committee was in opposition to the University Act. “This is illegal and there is no provision to include a Senate candidate in the search committee at a later stage as claimed by the governor. Senate candidates will be the only democratically elected members of the search panel. Therefore, a nominated committee without a Senate is undemocratic,” he stated.
He stated that the tenure of the present VC is until October 25 this yr and therefore the governor rapidly constituted the committee. “The present two-member committee should be withdrawn and the process should be started afresh. In the past, when a UGC nominee had voluntarily withdrawn from the VC Search Committee, the Raj Bhavan had issued a fresh notification for the formation of the search committee. That precedent of restructuring the search committee should be followed,” he stated.
Meanwhile, Khan informed the media in Delhi that he would order an intensive probe into nepotism in appointments in varied universities within the state.
“From the professor to the decrease workers, they need folks to be related to them. Now, I’ll completely examine what number of such appointments have taken place within the final two-three years.
A number of days in the past, Khan had stayed the appointment of Priya Varghese, spouse of CPI(M) chief KK Ragesh, who’s the non-public secretary to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. Varghese was appointed as Associate Professor of Malayalam at Kannur University on a number of deserving candidates who had a greater educational profile and choice rating than him.
Khan had additionally sought a proof from Kannur University VC Dr Gopinath Raveendran on the controversial appointment. The college, in flip, determined to problem the Governor’s motion within the High Court with the complete help of the CPI(M).
With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
