Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Governor Arif Muhammad Khan has instructed eight universities of the state to nominate their members to the search committee within a month. This committee will appoint vice-chancellors in the universities.
In a letter to the vice-chancellors of Kerala, MG (Mahatma Gandhi), CUSAT (Cochin University of Science and Technology), Kannur, Malayalam, Technological (APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University), Agricultural and Fisheries universities, the Governor said that if the universities failed to suggest their nominees within the allotted time, he would constitute the search committee with his candidates based on Supreme Court and High Court orders, and proceed with the appointment of vice-chancellors.
Under university rules, the senate has powers to select the nominee in Kerala, MG, Kannur and Agricultural universities. In CUSAT, Malayalam, Technological and Fisheries universities, it is the syndicate that has to recommend the nominee. Based on the Governor’s letter, Kerala University has instructed the Registrar to convene a meeting of the senate on February 16.
In a related development, the Governor served notices to the vice-chancellors of Calicut, Sanskrit, Digital and Open universities, who were appointed in violation of UGC (University Grants Commission) rules, to appear for a hearing at Raj Bhavan on February 24.
The Governor has also ordered Calicut University to suspend the procedures related to the elections to its Syndicate, following a complaint submitted by two faculty members. Khan also served a show-cause notice to the vice-chancellor of Calicut University in this regard. The issue relates to the rejection of the papers submitted by these two teachers – who were nominated to the senate by the Governor - to contest the syndicate elections. After rejecting the papers of these teachers, the registrar announced that a CPM member was elected unanimously to the ‘university teacher’ constituency in the syndicate.
