Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan is at it again. He has embarrassed the Pinarayi Vijayan Government by rejecting its nominee for the post of the interim Vice Chancellor of the APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University and instead appointed Dr Sisa Thomas to the post.
Dr Sisa is the Joint Director of the Technical Education Department.
The Government had recommended the appointment of the Principal Secretary of the Higher Education Department.
Last month the Supreme Court had revoked the appointment of MS Rajashree as the VC, citing violation of the rules of the University Grants Commission in her appointment.
The institution still goes by its erstwhile name Kerala Technological University.
Three VCs reply to Khan's show-cause notice ahead of deadline
Recently, Governor had asked VCs of eight universities in the State to resign in his capacity as the Chancellor. He then issued show cause notice as they refused to resign from the post on the orders of the Chancellor.
The VCs of the University of Kerala, Mahatma Gandhi University, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies, Kannur University, Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, the University of Calicut and Thunchath Ezhuthachan Malayalam University subsequently challenged the Chancellor’s order in the High Court.
The HC had declared that the VCs can continue in their posts until removed by the Governor after getting their explanations for the show cause notice.
Meanwhile, three out of the 10 Vice-Chancellors who were issued the show-cause notice by Kerala Governor have given their replies.
The HC allowed the VCs time till 5 pm on November 7 to respond to the notice of Khan, also the Chancellor of the Universities. Justice Devan Ramachandran said the VCs could seek more time from the Chancellor if they prefer a personal hearing and want additional time. The order comes even as the November 3 and 4 deadlines fixed by Khan were set to expire.
Dr Sabu Thomas of MG University and Dr K Riji John of KUFOS were the Vice-Chancellors who filed their reply on Thursday. Dr V P Mahadevan Pillai, who was the Vice-Chancellor of Kerala University, submitted his explanations on Wednesday.
Khan, who is currently in Delhi, will reach Kochi this evening, however, he will be returning to the state capital only on November 7. Hence, any further action from the Governor is likely to happen only after Monday.
Dr Sabu Thomas has briefed about his contributions in his capacity as the MG University Vice Chancellor in his reply. He also informed his wish to have a personal hearing.
Loss of talents?
Meanwhile, Khan has concerns over losing qualified and expert VCs too if the UGC guidelines are strictly enforced in line with the SC judgment. He wishes to have them back at the Vice-Chancellor posts again by following the fair process through the Search committee. He had even promised to re-appointment them in the event of their submitting resignations. However, the VCs turned down the same, fearing their chances would only suffer if they acted against the interests of the Pinarayi Vijayan Government.
