THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With the Supreme Court upholding his supremacy in appointments to the top post in state universities, Governor Arif Mohammed Khan has decided to kick-start the process of selecting permanent vice-chancellors.
The governor, in his capacity as chancellor, will direct the universities to urgently propose senate nominees to the search-cum-selection committees to choose new vice-chancellors.
As per rules governing most of the state universities, the vice chancellor is selected by a panel comprising nominees of the chancellor (Governor), University Grants Commission (UGC) and the senate/syndicate of the university concerned. Owing to pressure from the government, pro-LDF varsity bodies had delayed nominating their representatives to the search panel. According to Raj Bhavan sources, letters will be issued to the registrars of universities to provide varsity nominees to the search panels at the earliest.
At present, nine universities, including Kannur University where the VC stepped down recently, do not have permanent heads. The governor had recently disregarded the recommendations of the universities of Kerala and Calicut while choosing the chancellor’s nominees to the senate. The selection led to allegations that most of the nominees were pro-right wing, triggering protests from student outfits such as SFI.
“With the chancellor’s nominees in place, the universities can no more delay convening a meeting of the senate to propose its nominee to the search panel, citing a lack of quorum,” said a source. The Kerala University had inordinately delayed proposing a nominee to the search committee, reportedly at the behest of the government, thereby scuttling the governor’s move to choose a new vice-chancellor.
As the nominees handpicked by the governor now comprise a considerable chunk of the senate in major varsities such as Kerala and Calicut, the ruling Left is poised to lose the traditional upper hand it enjoyed in the varsity bodies, it is pointed out. Interestingly, two Bills passed by the state government — aiming to amend the rules relating to VC selection and to remove the governor from the chancellor’s post — are under the President’s consideration. In such a scenario, Raj Bhavan sources said the governor can proceed with the VC selection as per existing rules.