University spends a lot of money every time a case is filed, not challenging verdict, says Kannur VC 

KANNUR: Kannur University vice chancellor Dr Gopinath Ravindran came to the fore responding on the high court verdict quashing the appointment of Priya Varghese, wife of K K Ragesh, private secretary of the chief minister, as associate professor. He said went forward with the appointment proceedings as per the rules of UGC and further steps will be taken as soon as the copy of the verdict is obtained.

When the governor sought an explanation pointing the complaint of Save University Forum, replied that Priya Varghese was not appointed and the rank list was sent for legal scrutiny. Ravindran said that he had written to the UGC chairman asking if the deputation period could be considered as teaching experience. However, no reply was received. The VC explained that he went foward with the appointment of Priya Varghese after not getting a reply despite sending a letter again.

Ravindran said they will not move the court against the verdict. Ravindran said the university has the responsibility to implement the court verdict. Every time a case is filed, the university spends a lot of money. This is a ruling that applies to all universities in Kerala. When asked whether the deputation period could be considered as teaching experience during the court hearing yesterday, the UGC's counsel said it cannot. Ravindran said if this was informed earlier, the present problems would not have happened.

Ravindran said as the vice-chancellor, he does not know the details of each applicant. The university proceeded with the information mentioned in the application. However, the university had on August 1, 2022 asked Priya Varghese to produce more documents, but she did not. He responded that in the context of the court order, it should be checked.

There are some differences between the UGC Act and Kerala Act. The reference in yesterday's court ruling will cause difficulty for some teachers in future. As per the court order, the list of top three rankers including Priya Varghese for the post of associate professor will be re-examined. Further action will be taken following that.

The high court quashed the move made in four stages to make Priya Varghese an associate professor, against the rules. Priya, was given first rank after rejecting a teacher of S B College in Changanassery, who has five years of teaching experience and has over 100 research papers and an active member of CPM teachers' organization AKPCTA and two teachers from Malayalam University.

When Ravindran was the VC for the first time, steps in the appointment of associate professor were taken quickly. The interview was just before the term of the VC ended. The interview was conducted online. The professor who gave high marks in the interview for the appointment of MB Rajesh's wife in the Sanskrit University was made a member of the interview board here as well. Priya topped the rank list and it was kept secret. As a reward for this, the government put pressure on the Governor and reappointed Gopinath Ravindran as the VC.

Priya Varghese had the lowest score for research publications, a key criterion for appointment. Her teaching experience was also very low. Still, gave 32 marks for the interview and she came first. Priya had 156 score points for research. Second rank was given to Joseph Skaria, teacher of S B College, Changanassery, who had the highest number of points (651) and third rank was given to C Ganesh of Malayalam University with 645 points.