THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The meeting of the Kerala University Syndicate witnessed unruly scenes on Wednesday as protests erupted over alleged irregularities in the recruitment to faculty positions at the varsity.
SFI activists barged into the university headquarters and staged protests demanding Vice-Chancellor P K Radhakrishnan’s resignation.
They were later removed by the police, who used water canons to disperse the mob.
Earlier, when the meeting began, Syndicate member K H Babujan raised a complaint filed by an applicant about irregularities in the faculty recruitment process.
The vice-chancellor turned down the Syndicate members’ demand to go in for a vigilance probe on the recruitment.
Radhakrishnan argued the matter was not included in the agenda of the meeting and that it was sub-judice.
The vice-chancellor finally conceded to the Syndicate members’ demand to constitute a four-member Syndicate sub-committee to probe the recruitment process. The sub-committee, with A A Rahim as the convener, will have M Jeevanlal, M Sreekumar and Joseph Abraham as members.
The sub-committee will probe the recruitment and submit a report at a special meeting of the Syndicate to be held on December 16.
According to a section of the Syndicate members, an interview was held for the post of assistant professor in February in which certain irregularities in the award of marks were committed.
Usually, the Syndicate approves the rank list prepared by a selection committee chaired by the Vice-Chancellor.
However, in the wake of the allegations, the Syndicate demanded a probe into the recruitment.
Meanwhile, the vice-chancellor has denied any irregularity in the faculty selection process.
In the interview held to teaching posts in the Education Department six months ago, a candidate who had the maximum qualification was selected.
The candidate who was selected had secured a PhD and first rank in post-graduation. The candidate was also a Fulbright scholar and had published research papers in reputed international journals, the vice-chancellor said.
“Among the 199 candidates who attended the interview, the person selected had the maximum qualification. The selection was done by a seven-member interview board comprising of academics from outside the university,” the vice-chancellor said.