Nomination rush in CUSAT syndicate; Save university campaign alleges mystery

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The government's move to rush nominations to the Cochin University (CUSAT) syndicate, just before the model code of conduct for the assembly elections came into effect, ended in controversy. A special order was issued on Sunday evening, forcing the resignation of two CPM members of the syndicate and nominating two in their place. The university received the order from the Higher Education Department via e-mail at 3.52 pm, just three minutes before the start of the Central Election Commission's press conference. It is also noteworthy that the office in the secretariat remained open even on a holiday.

Dr Vinod Kumar Jacob, a teacher at Kothamangalam Mar Athanasius Engineering College, and Dr A Kailasanath, a teacher at CUSAT, were newly nominated to the syndicate.

Although the government order has directed the university to take further action, the approval of the Vice Chancellor is required to issue an order appointing them as members of the syndicate. In the current situation, where the election code of conduct has come into force, issuing a notification is likely to be a violation of the rules.

Save University Campaign Committee Chairman RS Sasikumar alleged a mystery surrounding the reassignment of university governing body members and the hastily transfer of the accused teacher to CUSAT while he was a member of the technical university syndicate.

University officials told Kerala Kaumudi that they received the government order and have not decided on further action. They will consider whether to hand over the matter to the Election Commission.