The Calicut University Employees’ Union, a Left-aligned organisation, observed a protest on Monday against Governor Arif Mohammed Khan’s decision, in his capacity as the Chancellor of State universities, to terminate the services of Calicut varsity Vice Chancellor M.K. Jayaraj and Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit Vice Chancellor M.V. Narayanan.
It was part of a State-wide protest called by the Confederation of University Employees Organisations, Kerala. Functionaries of the union and the confederation alleged that the Chancellor’s move was part of the Sangh Parivar agenda. They claimed that the reasons cited for the action against Mr. Jayaraj and Mr. Narayanan defied logic as they had all the qualifications mandated by university acts and statutes as well as the regulations of the University Grants Commission (UGC).
In Mr. Jayaraj’s case, the Chancellor’s argument was that Tom Jose, former Chief Secretary and one of the members of the search-cum-selection committee, was not an academic expert and that the government had proposed his name to be included in the panel. The employees’ union leaders said that Mr. Jose had been Principal Secretary, Higher Education, and was in charge of the University of Calicut for some time. Moreover, it was the Chancellor himself who had proposed to include his name in the search panel, they said. It is learnt that Mr. Jayaraj is planning to challenge the Chancellor’s decision in the High Court. The Chancellor had given him 10 days from March 7 to file an appeal in the court.
The Chancellor has claimed that V.K. Ramachandran, the government’s nominee in the search-cum-selection committee for the Sanskrit varsity, had been vice chairman of the Kerala State Planning Board and had no connection with the higher education sector. It was also claimed that Mr. Ramachandran’s qualifications could not be considered for the post as per UGC regulations. However, it was the Chancellor himself who constituted the search-cum-selection panel as per Clause 7.3 ii of the UGC Regulations, 2018, and nominated him on September 9, 2021. The argument that the Chancellor had been under pressure from the State government too would not hold water. It could have been difficult for the State government to exert pressure on the Governor appointed by the Union government.
Another reason cited was that only Mr. Narayanan’s name was proposed by the search-cum-selection panel for the Vice-Chancellor’s post and a list of three to five names should have been there as per the UGC regulations. According to the Act under which the Sanskrit varsity had been set up, the search panel could unanimously propose a name for the post of Vice Chancellor, the employees’ union leaders claimed. They also pointed out that the university Acts passed by the State Assembly was legally way above the UGC regulations.
