Honorarium of 1.75 lakhs to Kalamandalam Chancellor amid financial crisis; Mallika Sarabhai allowed office expenses as well

THRISSUR: The government has sanctioned eminent dancer Mallika Sarabhai, the chancellor of Kalamandalam deemed to be University, an honorarium of Rs 1.75 lakh per month and Rs 25,000 for office expenses. This is when the government had to intervene even in the mess fees of the students due to the financial crisis.

The students were asked to pay the excess amount themselves as the grant to the students was not sufficient for the mess fees. The student strike against this was resolved recently with the understanding that the problem will be resolved. There was also a situation where the salaries in Kalamandalam were not given correctly due to not receiving the government grant properly.

Mallika was made the chancellor in December 2022 on the understanding that it would not be a financial liability to the government. Mallika, who had announced that she would increase the income through foreign sponsorship and so on, had written a letter to the government demanding compensation after three months, which was controversial. Mallika had demanded three lakhs. Mallika was appointed replacing the governor who had been the chancellor since 2007 according to the UGC provision that the chancellor of the deemed-to-be-University can be appointed by the respective sponsoring agency. The sponsoring agency of Kalamandalam is the State Govt.

Action on irregularity

Manikandan of the finance department has been asked to stay away from official duty in connection with the irregularity in the distribution of uniforms to Kalamandalam students. The inquiry committee also decided to issue a show-cause notice to Jayachandran, who was in charge of uniform distribution. The action was taken following the strike by the students regarding the irregularities in the distribution of uniforms for the last two years.