Listen to Guv, fix rot in Kerala's universities
When the University of Travancore was established in 1937, the then king's first choice for the post of vice-chancellor was the legendary scientist Albert Einstein. Diwan Sir CP Ramaswamy Aiyar reached out to Einstein and offered him a monthly salary of Rs 6,000 for the post. Though Einstein politely declined it, the episode is testimony to the regard the rulers then had for the position and the institution.
In this context, the recent letter by an anguished Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan to CM Pinarayi Vijayan, expressing his willingness to relinquish the chancellorship of universities, needs to be viewed as a rare act of earnestness. Khan, who seems to be fed up with political interference in the affairs of universities, was angered by the insistence of the CM's office to reappoint Kannur University V-C Gopinath Ravindran. The governor said he signed the order extending the V-C's term with much reluctance. The alleged conspiracy by the LDF government to deny him the right to pick the new V-C for Sanskrit University by handing him a single name has also upset the governor.
The degradation of higher education in Kerala has a lot to do with political interventions, especially in state-run universities. University syndicates and senates are packed with politicians and their cronies, who play dirty to enforce political agendas, from appointments to syllabus revision. It may be recalled that the appointments of two V-Cs of MG University were nullified by the Kerala HC a few years ago as both didn't possess the required qualification.
To cleanse the higher education sector and ensure merit in appointments, the UGC has introduced a set of guidelines. The governor, as chancellor of universities, wants these norms followed strictly. The government's effort to dilute merit by providing jobs to relatives of leaders and party sympathisers is at the heart of the latest tussle. The concerns raised by the governor are genuine and should be taken as a warning to fix the rot in institutions of higher learning. The priority should be to develop universities as centres of excellence, not turn them into political tools and a source of employment for politicians, their families and supporters. The government must mend its ways and stop unnecessary meddling in the functioning of universities.