THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Higher Education Minister Dr R Bindu on Wednesday introduced a controversial amendment bill in the Legislative Assembly to curtail the Governor's powers as Chancellor and bring the appointment of Vice Chancellors of Kerala, Kannur, Kozhikode, Mahatma Gandhi and Sri Sankaracharya Universities under the complete control of the state government.

At present, the appointment of the Vice-Chancellor was in such a way that the central government and the Governor, who is also the Chancellor, could intervene. The amendment changes this completely.

The Vice-Chancellor will be appointed by the Governor in the amendment as well. Through the amendment, the government intends to bring a change in the composition of the Search Cum Selection Committee that will submit a three-member panel for VC appointment. At present, the three-member committee consists of representatives of the Governor, UGC and University Senate. The central government had the upper hand in that. This committee will have two additional representatives of the state government - the Vice-Chairman of the Council of Higher Education as the Convener and another person nominated by the government. With this, the state government will have three representatives in the five-member committee. Earlier, if there was no consensus in the panel, the three members could submit separate three-member panels. As per the amendment, only one list shall be submitted on the basis of the majority decision of the committee. The Chancellor will have to make the appointment within one month thereof. With this, the governor will not be able to implement his own decision regarding the appointment of the Vice Chancellor. The age limit of the Vice Chancellor has also been raised from sixty to 65 years.

Minister Dr R Bindu said that the amendment of the law is to raise the higher education sector to global standards, to make Kerala a knowledge society, and to appoint those who are capable of doing so as the head of the university.