Thiruvananthapuram: In what may be a major setback to the Left Democratic Front government in Kerala, eight more Vice-Chancellors of the state universities are expected to be ousted from the posts, given the recent quashing of the appointment of VCs of the APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University (KTU) and the Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (Kufos) by courts.
The Kerala High Court the other day revoked the appointment of Riji John as Kufos VC even as the LDF is holding a massive Raj Bhavan march today involving over one lakh workers, accusing Governor Arif Muhammad Khan of attempting to implement Sangh Parivar agenda in the Higher Education sector.
The court verdict was in line with the Governor’s stance that the appointments of 11 VCs in the state universities were made violating the UGC norms. Out of the 11, Kufos and KTU VCs were ousted by courts. Kerala Varsity VC V P Mahadevan Pillai handed over the charges after his term expired on October 24.
The remaining eight VCs are keeping their fingers crossed, awaiting the decisions to be taken by the High Court and the Governor. They are in charge of the Mahatma Gandhi University; Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT); Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kerala University of Digital Sciences, Innovation and Technology; Sreenarayanguru Open University; University of Calicut; Kannur University; and Thunchath Ezhuthachan Malayalam University.
The reasons cited for initiating measures for their removal from the posts include the violation of the UGC norm that the search-cum-selection committee should include only academic experts, suggesting a single name for the VC post instead of a panel of names to the Chancellor as required, and the Government appointing initial VCs of two universities on its own capacity. The Governor had sent show cause notices to the Vice Chancellors of Sreenarayana Guru Open University and the Kerala University of Digital Sciences, Innovation and Technology, citing that the Government made the appointments directly, which again amounted to a violation of UGC norms.
Earlier, the Supreme Court annulled the appointment of the VC of SSJ University, Almora, Uttarakhand, on the same basis.
Meanwhile, there are charges that the Governor appointing Agriculture Production Commissioner Ishita Roy as the Vice Chancellor of Kerala Agricultural University too was in violation of the UGC provision that the VC should be a distinguished academician, with a minimum of ten years experience as a professor.
