Govt. responsible for delay in appointing V-Cs: Kerala Governor

Khan defends his decision to refer the University Amendment Bills to the President and says it was necessitated since the ‘government overstepped its limits’

Governor Arif Mohammed Khan has squarely blamed the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government for the prolonged delay in the appointment of regular Vice-Chancellors (V-C) across several universities in the State.

Referring to the ongoing impasse in appointing interim V-Cs for APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University and Digital University Kerala, Mr. Khan told media persons here on Friday that the government has torpedoed several attempts made to expedite the selection process.

“For the last 75 years, it was the Chancellors’ responsibility to form selection committees to appoint V-Cs. However, each time I (in his capacity as the Chancellor) formed such a committee, the State government challenged it in the Kerala High Court, which then halted the proceedings,” he said.

He held the government responsible for the continued vacancies for regular V-Cs in almost all universities except the Kerala University of Health Sciences (KUHS). Mr. Khan recently reappointed Mohanan Kunnummal as the KUHS V-C and effectively extended his tenure as interim V-C of Kerala University.

The Governor also raised concern over the potential risk of undermining educational standards and negatively impacting the prospects of future generations if the government “continued to play games with universities.”

He also defended his decision to refer the University Amendment Bills to the President, claiming such a stance was necessitated since the “government overstepped its limits”.

“The government will not run according to the whims of individuals or even elected representatives. It will be run according to the provisions of the Constitution,” he added.

Published - November 08, 2024 08:53 pm IST