Governor- govt war yet to come to an end, no VCs; state's universities have been in disarray for over a year

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It's been a year since the universities have been in disarray as vice-chancellors were not appointed due to the battle between the Governor and the state government! VCs in-charge are handling administration in eight universities in the state. Four VCs who received dismissal notice from the Governor remain in the office after obtaining a stay from the High Court. This is a crisis that started in October last year.

The Governor has not yet signed the bill passed by the assembly to expand the search committee for the appointment of VCs. The crisis began when the government and the Governor tried to form their own search committees. The High Court quashed the search committee formed by the Governor in the Kerala University without a Senate representative. The government asked the Governor to appoint a representative to the search committee in the Malayalam varsity. In the meantime, the governor has issued dismissal notices to the VCs citing irregularities in their appointment. With this, the situation worsened.

As per the University Act, senate representation in search committees is mandatory. The governor's search committees without senate representatives will not stand. On the other hand, the Senate is not ready to provide a representative. A search committee has not been formed in NUALS as the government has not given a representative. Retired High Court judge S Sirijagan is the acting VC.

Varsities without VC
There are no VCs in Kerala, MG, CUSAT, Malayalam, Agriculture, Fisheries, Law and Technological Universities. Governor issued dismissal notice for Sanskrit, Calicut, Open and Digital University VCs.

Unending power struggle

• According to the Higher Education Department, the Governor has only the power to appoint the VC. Govt invites applications and forms panel.
• The Supreme Court has ordered that the government should not interfere in the appointment of VC. In this case, the appointments will be cancelled, the Governor said.

Present situation in universities
1. Kerala Agricultural University- Dr R. Chandrababu retired on October 7, 2022
2. Technological University- MS Rajashree was sacked by the Supreme Court on October 21, 2022
3. Kerala- Dr V P Mahadevan Pillai retired on 24 October 2022
4. Fisheries- Dr Riji John was sacked by the Kerala High Court on November 14, 2022
5. Malayalam University- Dr Anil Vallathol retired on February 28
6. CUSAT- Dr K N Madhusoodhanan retired on Monday
7. NUALS- Dr KC Sunny's term expired in March
8. MG University- Prof. Sabu Thomas retired in May

VCs not taking decisions

• Interim VCs are not making decisions. Politicians are ruling varsities.
• Students are unable to see VCs. Teacher appointments are not taking place.
• Temporary VCs are saying that decisions and appointments can be made after the arrival of the permanent VC.