Please read the rules, I have done my duty: Kerala Governor on VC appointment row

Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 28 (IANS) Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan on Thursday defended his decision to appoint two new vice chancellors on an interim basis, till permanent appointments are made, saying he had followed the rules.. The appointments came under attack from State Higher Education Minister R.Bindhu who said that these were not valid and legal steps against this were being considered.Governor Khan told the reporters who asked him about the appointments, “Please read the rules and I have done my duty according to the rules vested with the Chancellor”.“I am not going to reply to the statement of the Minister as all are entitled to their views. I did the appointment based on the latest directive from the judiciary,” added the Governor.On Wednesday, Khan appointed new vice-chancellors for Digital University Kerala (DUK) and the APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University (KTU).Ciza Thomas, former vice-chancellor of KTU was appointed as the VC of the digital varsity, while K. Sivaprasad, Professor, Department of Ship Technology, Cusat, was made the vice chancellor of KTU until further orders.Governor Khan and the Kerala government for long have been having frequent skirmishes but for some time there had been a lull.Khan made these two fresh appointments from outside of the list given by the Vijayan government and this has irked the government.The new VC appointments were necessitated after the term of DUK Vice Chancellor Saji Gopinath, who was also the VC in charge of KTU, ended last month.Incidentally, Ciza, who has retired, had run into trouble after she displeased the state government when she took over as the VC of KTU a few years back, much against the wishes of the Vijayan government.On Thursday, soon after taking over in her new position, she said, I am happy that, unlike my previous experience when I came under severe duress from protesting (pro-Left) staff organisation, this time it was incident-free,”.But at the KTU, there was a protest when Sivaprasad came to take over the new post. He said, “These things ( protests) will happen, but that doesn’t mean I cannot take over. I have joined."Now it remains to be seen if Bindhu will take the lead to appeal against appointments made by the Governor.--IANSsg/

HamroGlobalMedia

Nov 28, 2024 - 10:37

Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 28 (IANS) Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan on Thursday defended his decision to appoint two new vice chancellors on an interim basis, till permanent appointments are made, saying he had followed the rules..

The appointments came under attack from State Higher Education Minister R.Bindhu who said that these were not valid and legal steps against this were being considered.

Governor Khan told the reporters who asked him about the appointments, “Please read the rules and I have done my duty according to the rules vested with the Chancellor”.

“I am not going to reply to the statement of the Minister as all are entitled to their views. I did the appointment based on the latest directive from the judiciary,” added the Governor.

On Wednesday, Khan appointed new vice-chancellors for Digital University Kerala (DUK) and the APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University (KTU).

Ciza Thomas, former vice-chancellor of KTU was appointed as the VC of the digital varsity, while K. Sivaprasad, Professor, Department of Ship Technology, Cusat, was made the vice chancellor of KTU until further orders.

Governor Khan and the Kerala government for long have been having frequent skirmishes but for some time there had been a lull.

Khan made these two fresh appointments from outside of the list given by the Vijayan government and this has irked the government.

The new VC appointments were necessitated after the term of DUK Vice Chancellor Saji Gopinath, who was also the VC in charge of KTU, ended last month.

Incidentally, Ciza, who has retired, had run into trouble after she displeased the state government when she took over as the VC of KTU a few years back, much against the wishes of the Vijayan government.

On Thursday, soon after taking over in her new position, she said, I am happy that, unlike my previous experience when I came under severe duress from protesting (pro-Left) staff organisation, this time it was incident-free,”.

But at the KTU, there was a protest when Sivaprasad came to take over the new post. He said, “These things ( protests) will happen, but that doesn’t mean I cannot take over. I have joined."

Now it remains to be seen if Bindhu will take the lead to appeal against appointments made by the Governor.

--IANS

sg/