THIRUVANATHAPURAM: IHRD has denied the allegations against the appointment and promotion of V A Arunkumar, son of Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan, in the institution.
IHRD, in a statement here on Wednesday in response to the media reports, said that the appointment and promotion of Arunkumar were as per the norms of the IHRD.
IHRD said that the additional director was purely a promotion post for officials in service. The promotion to the post was made as per norms. No new posts were created for accommodating Arunkumar. The IHRD created three posts of additional directors following the request from IHRD officials, the statement said.
Arunkumar, who had 12 years of experience, was appointed in one of these posts by the selection board, it said. No one was denied his/her right for promotion owing to the selection of Arunkumar as the additional director. Arunkumar was given charge of finishing schools as the additional director based at IHRD headquarters, the statement said.
The media reports to the contrary quoting replies provided under the Right to Information Act queries were baseless and were part of the ploy to malign the institution. The examination of the replies given to the queries would prove this, the IHRD statement said.
'Probe the role of
IHRD director'
The Higher Education Protection Council has rubbished the claims made by IHRD on the qualification of Chief Minister V S Achuthadanandan's son V A Arunkumar and accused IHRD director Subramony of telling 'blatant lie' on the issue.
The Council demanded an investigation into the role of Subramony in the whole issue. Council convener R S Sasikumar, in a statement here on Wednesday, asked why the IHRD remained silent on the changes in the prescribed qualifications allegedly to suit that of Arunkumar while issuing the notification of assistant director in 1998, principal in 2005 and additional director in 2010.
The IHRD also was silent on how Arunkumar, who had not worked for a single day as a teacher, could be made the principal of an education institution under the IHRD. Normally, Higher Education Principal Secretary, in his capacity as IHRD vicechairman, chairs the selection committee meeting, the statement said.
However, in the committee which selected Arunkumar as the additional director, he was replaced by Commissioner for Entrance Examination B S Mavoji as the chairman.
Further, the order was issued after getting the nod of Education Minister M A Baby bypassing the Principal Secretary, the statement alleged.