The University Laws (Amendment) Bill, which would virtually strip the Governor of his say in appointing a vice chancellor, was passed in the Assembly on Thursday. The Opposition UDF, after participating in the debate, boycotted the passage of the Bill saying it was an attempt to appoint government puppets as vice chancellors.
The Bill is widely seen as the LDF government's preemptive strike against the BJP's designs to foist its men at the helm of universities. Former higher education minister K T Jaleel alleged that that there was a serious attempt to anoint an RSS person as the Vice Chancellor of the Calicut University. "This was resisted with great effort. But there is no guarantee that such resistance could be mounted in future," Jaleel said during the discussion on the Bill.
However, the Governor's reaction to the Bill is not clear at the moment. It is nearly certain that he would not give his approval. There is a high probability that he would send the Bill to the President for her assent.
The Amendment will ring in four major changes. One, it will change the number and composition of the search-cum-selection committee the law has envisaged to identify suitable vice chancellor candidates. There will be five members in the committee; it was three originally.
In the original Act, which is sought to be superseded, the search-cum-selection committee had a nominee of the Governor/Chancellor, a person elected by the University Senate and a member of the chairman of the University Grants Commission.
The Bill that will now go the Governor for his approval has added two members affiliated with the state government; nominees of the government and the vice chairman of the Kerala State Higher Education Council (KSHEC).
When the Bill was first tabled in the Assembly last week, one of the new members in the expanded committee was the KSHEC vice chairman himself. Since the UGC Regulations 2018 prohibits the presence of anyone linked to the University in the search-cum-selection committee, higher education minister R Bindu introduced an amendment on Thursday that changed it to a nominee of the KSHEC vice chairman.
This will give the government a majority of three in a committee of five. Even as it stands, the government has the upper hand as the Governor's nominee was traditionally chosen by the government. But with Governor Arif Mohammed Khan becoming increasingly combative, the government anticipates that he could insist on his own nominee. If this happens, it was felt that the Governor's nominee and the UGC chairman's nominee together could give Khan a decisive say in the selection of the vice-chancellor.
The change in number and the composition of the search-cum-selection committee proposed in the Bill would effectively undermine the Governor's, and by extension, the BJP-ruled Centre's, sway over the VC appointment.
Two, the Chancellor/Governor will have to pick from a list of three names submitted by a majority of the committee members. In effect, only a government nominee could adorn the VC post.
In the existing Act, the three-member committee has to recommend a name unanimously. If they are unable to come to a consensus, the three members can submit three separate panels and the Governor can choose a candidate from any of the three panels. This offers the Governor a wide choice.
Former Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala questioned this change. "If the Governor can choose only from the names recommended by the majority of the search committee members, what is the need for the other two members. Why are they being included as mere scarecrows," he asked. Higher Education minister Bindu asked what made Chennithala think that the committee could not come up with a unanimous choice.
Three, the committee has to submit its panel only in four months. As it stands, the deadline is three months.
Four, the maximum age for a VC has been raised to 65 from 60. This change was effected early this year through an ordinance to facilitate the reappointment of Gopinath Ravindran as Kannur University VC. However, Chennithala supported this change.
The two Muslim League members, Abid Hussain Thangal and T V Ibrahim, who officially recorded their dissent against the Bill said the expansion of the search-cum-selection committee was an attempt by the LDF government to appoint persons of their choice as vice chancellors.
