Kannur University corrects 'error' after 32 months; ex-principal who took on SFI to get ₹17 lakh gratuity

Kasaragod: More than two-and-a-half years after retiring and making repeated trips to Kannur University and the Kerala High Court, former Kasaragod Government College principal Dr Rema M is finally set to receive her ₹17 lakh gratuity.

After the LDF government's defeat in the Assembly election and the High Court's intervention, Kannur University corrected the date of her PhD thesis submission, a discrepancy she alleged had been deliberately introduced to deny her retirement benefits. The previous LDF-appointed university Syndicate had repeatedly refused to correct the error, despite her submitting documentary evidence establishing the correct date.

The correction came after a pro-UDF panel took charge of the university's Syndicate, its chief executive body. Ironically, Dr Rema's husband is a leader of the CPI, a constituent of the LDF. Yet she faced the brunt of the LDF government's actions over her stand against the SFI, the CPM's student wing.

Dr Rema joined the Kasaragod Government College's Department of Statistics in 2001. In 2009, she went on the UGC's Faculty Improvement Programme (FIP) to pursue her PhD. She submitted her thesis on July 29, 2011, and rejoined duty on August 1, 2011, after the weekend break.

After her retirement, the university asked her to produce a PhD thesis submission certificate to enable the release of her gratuity. She applied for it and was issued a certificate recording June 30, 2011, as the date of submission, instead of July 29, 2011. She sought a correction, producing her research attendance register, thesis and other documents to establish the actual date. But the university continued to stand by the incorrect date, despite the evidence. The Directorate of Collegiate Education cited this discrepancy in the university's records for withholding her ₹17 lakh gratuity.

Dr Rema had frequent run-ins with student organisations, particularly the SFI and the MSF, while she was principal in charge of Kasaragod Government College. But the relationship took a hostile turn when SFI protested against a defunct drinking-water unit on the college campus. In February 2024, Rema accused SFI members of drug abuse, campus violence and immoral physical relationships. The SFI launched protests and decided not to allow her to enter the campus.

The then Higher Education Minister, R Bindu, removed her as the principal on February 23, 2024, and transferred her to Government Arts and Science College at Koduvally in Kozhikode district, around 200km away.

Dr Rema challenged the transfer. Following an order of the Kerala Administrative Tribunal, she was posted to Govinda Pai Memorial Government College at Manjeshwar, closer to home in Kasaragod district. She retired there on March 31, 2024.

But just before retirement, the LDF government initiated two departmental inquiries against her. On April 9, 2024, a Kerala High Court division bench quashed both proceedings and criticised the government for taking up the cudgels for the SFI. It observed that if Dr Rema had made unsubstantiated allegations against SFI members, they, and not the government, were the aggrieved parties.

Her pension, which had been held up citing the inquiries, was approved in July 2024, three months after her retirement. The gratuity, however, remained withheld.

In December 2024, she met Vice-Chancellor (in-charge) Prof K K Saju with her PhD thesis, the research centre's attendance register bearing entries up to July 29, 2011, and records showing that she had rejoined duty on August 1.

Prof Saju had told Onmanorama that he was convinced by the documents Dr Rema produced, but he forwarded her request to correct the error to the same LDF-dominated Syndicate.

With the matter unresolved, she approached the High Court in March 2026. By May, the LDF had lost the Assembly election. The new Syndicate, at its September 8 meeting, accepted the documents establishing July 29, 2011, as her thesis submission date and resolved to regularise her FIP period up to that date.

When the university placed its revised position before the High Court, Justice P V Kunhikrishnan observed that “nothing survives in this case”. The court set aside the three disputed letters issued by the university and directed it to issue a corrected PhD thesis submission certificate. The release of her gratuity now rests with the government.