Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan accepted the resignation of Sreenarayanguru Open University Vice-Chancellor PM Mumabark Pasha. Dr VP Jagadiraj, a professor at the Cochin University of Science and Technology School of Management, has been appointed as the new Vice-Chancellor. However, the final decision will depend on the court's ruling, Raj Bhavan stated.
The Governor, who is the Chancellor of universities in the state, accepted Pasha’s resignation after seeking the opinion of the University Grants Commission (UGC). Earlier, Khan held a hearing of four VCs – including those of Open, Digital, Calicut, and Sanskrit Universities – based on a court order, from which the Pasha abstained.
After the hearing, Khan concluded that all four VCs were ineligible for their positions. He raised issues with the appointments, stating they did not follow the proper procedure, such as the inclusion of the Chief Secretary in the search committee, failure to submit a panel of names for VC appointments, and direct appointments by the government without a UGC representative. UGC also upheld the Chancellor’s decision.
Khan then also decided to remove the VCs of Calicut and Sanskrit universities. Thus the VCs, Dr MK Jayarajan and Dr MV Narayanan were expelled respectively for being appointed contrary to UGC guidelines. However, the High Court issued a stay on the action taken against Jayarajan but dismissed the plea filed by Narayanan
The Vice Chancellor positions of several universities in Kerala, including KTU, CUSAT, MG, Kannur, Malayalam, Agriculture, Fisheries, and Law Universities, remain vacant. Notably, the Law University's Chancellor is the Chief Justice, independent of these proceedings. The University of Health and the Veterinary University are not affected by this and continue to have their Vice Chancellors.
