Govt Risking UGC Grants to Justify VC Appointments

Former Education Minister M A Baby said that the state’s higher education sector would face a serious crisis if the UGC curtails funding to universities.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state government, which maintains that University Grants Commission (UGC) regulations on appointment of Vice Chancellors are not binding on varsities, seems to have  ignored a key provision which states that failure to comply with them could lead to withholding of UGC grants.

In a written reply in the Assembly on Friday, Education Minister P K Abdu Rabb said that the UGC regulations on Vice Chancellor appointment were only “recommendatory” in nature and that Universities were not required to compulsorily implement it. The reply was seen as an attempt at firefighting as the Opposition was constantly training its guns on the government over the appointment of “under-qualified” persons as VCs.

However, the UGC regulations clearly state that failure in implementation or contravention of the regulations “may withhold from the University, the grants proposed to be made out of the fund of the Commission”.  According to Kerala State Higher Education Council member Lopez Mathew, UGC funds are crucial for the survival of universities. “While the lion’s share of the financial assistance for the universities comes from the UGC. It is ironic that some UGC regulations -- such as the minimum qualification for teachers --  are followed strictly by all universities, but the ones pertaining to appointment of VCs are diluted,” he said.

Speaking to ‘Express’, former Education Minister M A Baby said that the state’s higher education sector would face a serious crisis if the UGC curtails funding to universities.

“It is after the UDF government came to power that UGC regulations on selection of Vice Chancellors have been diluted so much. In Calicut University, it was the timely intervention a search committee member that thwarted the government’s move to foist a HSS teacher with PhD to the Vice Chancellor’s post,” Baby said.

Recently, a bench of the Madras High Court set aside the appointment of Madurai Kamaraj University Vice-Chancellor Kalyani Mathivan in a case relating to the applicability of UGC regulations. The court rejected her contention that the UGC regulations need not be followed.