Kerala govt takes unprecedented move to remove guv as Chancellor Of Universities

• Kerala government is mulling bringing an expert in place of the Chancellor of State-run universities
• Arif Mohammad Khan had asked the Vice Chancellors of eleven universities in the state to resign on the ground of allegedly faulted recruitment
• Kerala higher education minister Dr. R Bindu, while addressing the media, said that the Governor will hopefully sign the ordinance

In an unusual move, the Kerala government on Wednesday decided to remove state’s governor Arif Mohammad Khan as the Chancellor of the universities.

The cabinet has voted to pass an ordinance or special order that will result in his removal, according to an official release from the CMO.

The official statement reads: “The Ordinance is meant to amend the University Rules pertaining to the post of Chancellor of the Universities in the state. The draft of the ordinance would remove the particular section from the University Rules, which has made the governor the ex-officio chancellor of the 14 universities in Kerala.”

The step by the government is said be taken the governor, Arif Mohammad Khan asked the Vice Chancellors of eleven universities in the state to resign on the ground of allegedly faulted recruitment.

It also noted that the decision to bring such ordinance followed the recommendations of M M Punchhi Commission on centre-state relations, reported the Outlook. The commission in its reports said that it is better to not appoint Governor as the Chancellor due to her/his several other Constitutional obligations and works.

The government also noted the importance of reforming higher education and cited the step as a move towards it, according to the news outlet.

In accordance with a directive from the governor of Kerala, the Vice-Chancellors of the University of Kerala, the Mahatma Gandhi University, the Cochin University of Science and Technology, the Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies, the University of Calicut, the Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, and the Thunachath Ezhuthachan Malayalam University have been asked to resign from their positions.

Later, the VCs of nine universities filed a lawsuit in the High Court against the Governor’s directive. Meanwhile, the Governor had also appointed Ciza Thomas as the Vice Chancellor in-charge of the APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University (KTU) in Thiruvananthapuram.

Kerala higher education minister Dr. R Bindu, while addressing the media, said that the Governor will hopefully sign the ordinance. “The governor has the constitutional obligation to sign the ordinance. We hope he will fulfil that obligation. Due to the recent developments in the universities, the state’s higher education sector is in crisis. We cannot allow things to go like this. The government has given top priority to enhancing the standards in the higher education sector,” she added.