Thiruvananthapuram: Signalling an end to his long-drawn tussle with the Kerala Government, Governor Arif Muhammed Khan has appointed Dr Saji Gopinath, who was among those recommended by the State, as the temporary Vice-Chancellor of the Kerala Technological University (KTU).

Khan has issued an order handing over the additional charge to Dr Saji Gopinath, Vice Chancellor of the Kerala Digital University, following the retirement of Dr Ciza Thomas.He is slated to take charge of the post on Saturday, April 1.

The Governor asked the Government the other day to suggest names for handing over the responsibility with Dr Ciza retiring on March 31. Following this, the Higher Education Principal Secretary submitted a panel comprising three names for consideration by the Governor. The names included that of Dr Saji, Technical Education Director Dr T P Baiju Bhai, and Senior professor Dr Abdul Nassar.

Governor's SC setback
Earlier, the State Government recommended to hand over the charge to Dr Saji after the Supreme court had annulled the appointment of Dr M S Rajasree as the KTU Vice-Chancellor. The Governor, however, turned it down, citing that Dr Saji was among the VCs who had been served a notice from the Chancellor for their appointment in violation of the UGC norms. But with the High Court staying further proceedings on this case, the additional charge is now being handed over to him.

Three VCs with additional charge
At least three Vice Chancellors in the state currently hold charge of two universities each. Dr Mohan Kunnummal, VC of Health University, holds the additional charge of the Kerala University, while Mahatma Gandhi University VC Sabu Thomas holds the additional charge as VC of the Malayalam University. 

With the appointment of Vice Chancellors in complete disarray, other universities such as Law University, too, are functioning with Vice chancellors in-charge.

Long feud
The Governor’s tiff with the Government dates back to December 2019 when historian Irfan Habib allegedly tried to interrupt his speech at Kannur University during the inauguration of the 80th edition of the Indian History Congress.

Khan had claimed a wider ‘conspiracy’ against him then. He raked up the issue again in August 2022 after his relationship with Kannur VC Dr Gopinath Raveendran strained over the “illegal” appointment of Priya Varghese, wife of K K Ragesh, the private secretary of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, as the Associate Professor of Malayalam.

Prof Ciza was earlier appointed as the KTU VC by the Governor in his capacity as the chancellor of state universities while rejecting the Government’s recommendation to hand over the post to the Principal Secretary of the State Higher Education Department, Ishita Roy.