Governor Arif Mohammed Khan sprung a major surprise on Friday by constituting search committees to select Vice-Chancellors (V-Cs) for six State-run universities without their nominees.
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Distinguished technocrats have been appointed to the selection committees, a move likely to escalate tensions between the Governor and the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government once again.
Declined to nominate
Despite directives from Mr. Khan, who serves as Chancellor of the universities, decision-making bodies of almost all universities, predominantly comprising LDF-backed members, had declined to nominate their representatives to the committees.
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Kerala Raj Bhavan issued notifications constituting the search committees for Kerala University, Mahatma Gandhi University (MGU), APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University (KTU), Kerala Agricultural University (KAU), Thunchath Ezhuthachan Malayalam University, and Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (Kufos).
S. Somanath, Chairperson of the Indian Space Research Organisation, has been appointed Chancellor’s nominee and convener of the search committee tasked with selecting the next V-C of Kerala University. Battu Satyanarayana, Vice-Chancellor of the Central University of Karnataka, represents the University Grants Commission (UGC) on the panel.
C. Anandharamakrishnan, Director, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research – National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (NIIST), is the Chancellor’s nominee and convener of the committee appointed to identify the V-C of MGU. Former V-C of Mizoram University K.R.S. Sambasiva Rao is the UGC’s nominee.
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Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) Director S. Unnikrishnan Nair leads the committee responsible for selecting the V-C for KTU, nominated by the All Indian Council for Technical Education (AICTE). Kshiti Bhushan Das, V-C of the Central University of Jharkhand, and P. Rajendran, former V-C of KAU, are the UGC and Chancellor’s nominees respectively.
C.V. Jayamani, former Professor of the Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cusat), has been appointed as Chancellor’s nominee and chairperson of the committee for KAU. Alok Kumar Rai, V-C of the University of Lucknow, and Himanshu Pathak, Secretary of the Department of Agricultural Research and Education and Director-General of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), are the UGC and ICAR nominees respectively.
Former Cusat and Aligarh Muslim University V-C P.K. Abdul Azis is the Chancellor’s nominee and convener of the V-C selection panel for Kufos. Central University of Jammu V-C Sanjeev Jain and ICAR Deputy Director General (Fisheries Science) J.K. Jena are the UGC and ICAR nominees respectively.
Former MGU and Central University of Kerala V-C Jancy James is the Chancellor’s nominee and chairperson of the committee for the V-C selection committee for Malayalam university. Central University of Karnataka V-C Battu Satyanarayana is the UGC’s nominee.