KOCHI: At the end of feverish speculation and strong denials, Cusat on Saturday finally decided to drop the name of former Finance Minister K M Mani from the ‘K M Mani Centre for Budget Studies’ and rechristen it as the ‘Centre for Budget Studies’.
The decision taken by the varsity Syndicate at its meeting here would see the Centre for Budget Studies attached to the Department of Applied Economics, with the faculty from the department engaging the classes at the Centre.
Ever since Mani’s name figured in the bar bribery scam, there was a clamour from various quarters for dropping the veteran politico’s name from the Centre for Budget Studies.
Appointment of ineligible candidate cancelled
The Syndicate also decided to renotify the posts of the faculty members at the School of Legal Studies (SLS), Cusat, following reports moves were afoot to appoint ineligible candidates.
“Actually, there were not enough candidates. Hence, we are renotifying all the SLS posts for a better selection process,” a Syndicate member told Express.The Cochin University employees’ union had alleged Mahatma Gandhi(MG) University pro-vice chancellor Sheena Shukkur’s candidature was being pushed for the second time after the scrutiny committee had rejected her name in 2015.
Tie-up with Cochin Shipyard
The Syndicate also gave its formal approval for the MoU inked with the Cochin Shipyard Ltd for imparting training and providing consultancy and technical support in ship technology.
Ragging
Another major decision by the Syndicate was to set up a three-member subcommittee to explore the possibility of providing safe and alternate accommodation to first-year students to escape the ragging menace. “We need to update the ragging issues every three months to the UGC and the Governor, who is the Chancellor. So the issue is pretty serious. In fact, the UGC norms specify the first-year students must be given separate hostel accommodation to prevent ragging incidents,” the Syndicate member said.