Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala Government has initiated measures to enact legislation to convert Kerala Kalamandalam, a deemed university, into a full-fledged university under it. The present chancellor, noted dancer and activist Mallika Sarabhai, is expected to continue in that post after the change in the university’s status.
At the same time, Governor Arif Mohammed Khan has not yet approved the bills sent to him by the government seeking to remove him from the post of Chancellor of government-controlled universities in the state. When the new university is set up and the government appoints a chancellor of its choice, the governor will be helpless, said sources in the government.
The Governor would need to approve the bill passed by the Assembly constituting the new university. Khan had earlier refused to sign the bill passed by the Assembly, which sought to remove him as chancellor of universities by asking the government to explain why it initiated such a move. However, sources say that the governor had no power to delay signing the bill setting up the new university by demanding that he be made its chancellor.
It has been learned that the new university will have authority across Kerala. Initially, its name was suggested as ‘Kerala Cultural University’. However, in order to retain ‘Kalamandalam’, the new name would be ‘Kalamandalan Cultural University.’ The status of a full-fledged university would enable Kalamandalam to receive enhanced funding from the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Meanwhile, uncertainty prevails over whether institutions such as music colleges, fine arts colleges, and the School of Drama would be brought under the proposed cultural university. These institutions are currently governed by the Department of Higher Education.
Incidentally, the government’s move amid the financial crisis faced by the state has created anxiety among the teachers and other staff at Kalamandalam. They said that payment of salaries is already delayed by two to three months.
Kalamandalam, where the student strength is 218, has 235 teachers and other staff. Only 74 of the staff posts are approved by the government.