Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala cabinet-led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan Wednesday voted to bring in an ordinance or a special order to remove Governor Arif Mohammed Khan from the post of Chancellor of universities in the state.
The state government is now planning to replace him with an “educational expert” as the Chancellor.
Why Kerala government wants to remove Governor as chancellor of universities?
The war of words between Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan and the ruling-CPI(M) government in the state has escalated in the past few months over the administration of universities.
It all started after the Governor sought the resignation of the vice-chancellors of nine state universities after the Supreme Court’s verdict that the appointment of the Vice-Chancellor of APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University in Thiruvananthapuram was “illegal”.
After the order, notices were sent by the Governor to the vice chancellors in which he asked them to explain why their appointments should not be declared void ab initio.
After receiving notice from the Governor, the vice-chancellors of universities in Kerala moved the court.
On Tuesday, Arif Mohammed Khan was restrained by the Kerala High Court from passing any order on the showcase notice until it decides on the writ petitions filed by the VCs challenging the notice.
Meanwhile, an official release by the Kerala Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) stated that the Cabinet meeting decided to recommend to the Governor to promulgate an ordinance to appoint eminent academicians to the post of chancellors.
“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 official release stated.
The release further said that considering the importance given to the higher education sector, the Kerala government has decided to appoint eminent persons, who uphold high academic values, as chancellors of universities.
“The Cabinet is of the view that appointing academicians at the helm of the universities would help frame a long-term perspective to transform Kerala’s higher education institutions as hubs of centres of excellence,” it added.
Who recommended Kerala Cabinet to remove Governor from Chancellor’s post?
The official release by the Kerala CMO, said that the decision by the state Cabinet to remove the Governor as the chancellor of the universities was taken after considering the recommendation of the M M Punchhi Commission on Centre-State relations.
The Commission recommends that it would not be proper to appoint the Governor as the chancellor considering his other constitutional obligations. It had opined that a Governor holding the post of chancellor should be avoided.
Kerala Governor has to sign govt’s ordinance demanding his removal from post of Chancellor
Interestingly, the ordinance demanding Governor’s removal will have to be signed by Arif Mohammed Khan himself.
Earlier, the Governor has said that if the state government brings in a law or ordinance similar to this, he will give his consent. It is now a wait-and-watch moment of what his next move will be.
Meanwhile, Kerala higher education minister R Bindu said she hopes that the Governor would sign the ordinance, once the government brings it, according to his constitutional duties.
Kerala’s LDF government launches massive grassroot level campaign against Governor
On Tuesday, the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) in Kerala launched a massive grassroot level campaign by distributing pamphlets in households across the state against Governor Arif Mohammed Khan.
The pamphlets issued under the name of ‘Education Protection Society’, alleged that Arif Mohammed Khan was “acting like a tool of Sangh Parivar” and he does not even have the basic understanding of the Constitution.
It also stressed the need for a mass public movement against Khan to protect the higher education sector of the southern state.
With inputs from agencies
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