Government wants Dr. Saji Gopinath as new vice chancellor

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The government is putting pressure on the Governor to remove Dr Ciza Thomas from the vice chancellor post of the technological university. Dr Ciza Thomas is retiring on the 31st of this month, so the government now wants Raj Bhavan to appoint digital university VC Dr Saji Gopinath as the new VC of the technological university.

Earlier also government recommended Dr Saji but the Governor thwarted the plans by appointing Dr Ciza Thomas as the vice-chancellor. After finding the appointment erroneous, the supreme court removed the earlier VC Dr M S Rajasri from the VC post. The governor sent a notice to the government to explain reasons to not remove Saji Gopinathan in a similar move. MG VC Sabu Thomas was served with a similar notice from the governor but was later made Malayalam VC which irked the government to come up with Dr Saji’s name.

The governor has asked Ciza Thomas to continue in service till a new VC gets appointed. So even after retiring on March 31st, Dr Ciza Thomas will continue in the post for another six months if the new VC appointment gets delayed. The high court has given permission for the government to suggest names for appointing a temporary VC for the university. However, the government-made three-member panel was rejected by the governor. The higher education ministry then moved a quo-warranto against Dr Ciza Thomas’s appointment saying it was illegal. However, the high court quashed it and approved Dr Ciza’s merit to sit in the post.