Kerala academic community silent despite illegal appointments: Whistleblower group
The appointment of Priya Varghese, the wife of KK Ragesh, who is the private secretary of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, as an Associate Professor in the Kannur University raised eyebrows after allegations that regulations were bypassed. The Save University Campaign Committee (SUCC), a whistleblower group, had been actively exposing discrepancies in the appointments of teachers in the state universities. In an interview to TNM, RS Sasikumar, chairman of SUCC says that even Priya Varghese is aware that her appointment was out of the way.
Sasikumar is a former Syndicate member of the Kerala University and Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cusat) and former Joint Registrar of the Kerala University. The appointment of Priya has been stayed by governor Arif Mohammed Khan, who is also Chancellor of the Universities and subsequently by the Kerala High Court. Priya, Kannur University and the state government, however, have defended the appointment.
Sasikumar asserts that the appointment bypassed regulations. “Usually it's tough to enter the service even as an Assistant Professor. Normally, one can become an Associate Professor only after 14 or 15 years of entering the service. The University Grants Commission has certain norms and it is not that Priya isn’t aware of them. The appointment of Priya was a test by the government so that professor appointments can be done in the future as they please. There should be a minimum eight years of teaching experience to be an Associate Professor. We have records to prove that she does not have the requisite experience,” alleges Sasikumar.
The SUCC was in the news earlier after they filed a complaint against former Higher Education Minister KT Jaleel. The complaint alleged that the thesis submitted by him was below par and that a revaluation by a team of expert academics is required to bring out intellectual shallowness of the researcher.
“The regulations of the University Grants Commission (UGC) regarding the appointment of teachers in 2010 were perfect. Any change to that was not necessary. The 2018 regulations had loopholes that paved the way for out of the way appointments. Now the norm is to fix the cut-off mark and select candidates based on the interview. With this, every institution or university got the right to decide on the cut-off mark in the way they wanted. That loophole is misused in the central universities. The same is being done in the government and affiliated colleges in the state. There are around 6,000 posts in the central universities and several allegations have already been raised about the appointments for those posts,” Sasikumar adds.
The role of KT Jaleel
He also alleges that it was after KT Jaleel became the Higher Education Minister that political interference in universities became rampant. “He decided to start File Adalats at the University soon after assuming the charge as minister. The Education Minister has no right to directly intervene in affairs of universities as per the Universities Act. He is only a Pro-VC. Only in the absence of the Governor can a Pro-VC act. We (SUCC) began to take note of the adalats when a decision was taken to pass students by giving moderation marks out of the way in the Calicut, MG and Technological Universities. We brought it to the notice of the Governor, but he did not act. But the SUCC strengthened its vigil,” he said.
Sasikumar made an allegation that re-appointment of Gopinath Ravindran as the Kannur University VC was on the condition of Priya Varghese being appointed as Associate Professor at the University. “Gopinath Ravindran is qualified for that post, but not for a second term. When he got a second term he got obliged to someone and has been doing all procedures wrongly. He was opposed to appointing Priya Varghese initially when she had applied for the post of Assistant Professor at the University as she had crossed 40, the age limit for the post, then,”.
The High Court in February this year, however, dismissed an appeal against a single-judge order upholding the re-appointment of Gopinath Ravindran. The Court said it was in accordance with the law.
Sasikumar blames the Union and the State governments for creating a situation in which students increasingly choose foriegn and private universities. He warns that if this is not changed, the prospects of our next generation will be grim as not all students can go outside for studies.
‘Academic community is silent’
Some United Democratic Front (UDF) governments, when in power, had appointed some good academics as VCs, he said. “But it was the Left Democratic Front (LDF) which used to appoint exceptional people as VCs. UR Ananthamurthy who helmed MG University and Dr Gangan Prathap and Dr Jayakrishnan who led Kerala University are examples. But the actions of the LDF governments which came to power after 2016 led to erosion of quality in the universities. The SUCC works as a representative of the academic community which is silent. Some fear that their future chances will be affected if they move the court. But we help those who come forward to move legally,” he said.
‘Credibility varsities depend on credibility of VCs ’
“Governments want VCs of their choice as it helps them in making out of the way appointments. The credibility of VCs is that of the universities. But intervening in the rights of VCs would make academically independent people stay away. The VCs can block any decision by the Senate, the Syndicate, Board of Studies or Academic Council.The VCs enjoy huge powers; but if they are acting as rubber stamps it will adversely affect the quality of university education,” said Sasikumar.
The SUCC would generally approach the Governor if any discrepancy comes to their notice. The Governor would send the complaint to the VC concerned. “The concerned VC would give a response justifying their stand to the Governor, which the latter's office would send to us. Once I wrote to the Governor that we didn't need such responses. The rampant corruption in universities happened as chancellors failed to do their job properly. However, recently Governor Arif Mohammed Khan started to think that what he was doing was wrong. Earlier, he had taken a non-confrontational stand,” said Sasikumar.
Watch TNM interview with Sasikumar