KU faculty approaches rights panel against ‘campaign’ by Syndicate

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a new twist to the row over faculty recruitment in Kerala University, an assistant professor whose selection turned controversial, has approached the Human Rights Commission alleging a section of Syndicate members were indulging in a smear campaign against her by dubbing her as ‘under-qualified’.

The woman assistant professor, in her complaint, said Syndicate members B S Jyothikumar, K H Babujan and A A Rahim questioned her recruitment and cast doubts over her academic credentials, during a recent meeting of the Syndicate, in a bid to ‘defame’ her.  According to the complainant, who was recruited in the OBC category, the Syndicate members alleged irregularities in the recruitment with the aim of sabotaging her career.

The complainant said the Syndicate members defamed her without properly inquiring into her academic qualifications. The assistant professor said she was a ‘Fulbright-Nehru Post-Doctoral Fellowship’ awardee and had also received the ‘UGC-Raman Post-Doctoral Fellowship for Indian Scholars in the US’.

Besides a PhD from the University of Kerala, she had obtained two post graduate degrees - in Physics and in Education - with first and second ranks respectively. She also refuted the allegations that she was unduly awarded marks for her post-doctoral research work.

Meanwhile, Syndicate member Jyothikumar stood firm on the allegations against the faculty recruitment process. “Our allegations are based purely on documentary evidence. It is the irregularities in the interview that was questioned and not the academic credentials of the candidate,” he added.

‘All principals eligible to vote in KU senate election’

T’Puram: Principals of all colleges affiliated to the University of Kerala are eligible to cast their votes in the election to the senate in the ‘principal’ constituency. An order to this effect came from the High Court recently.  The university had earlier decided to include in the electoral roll only those principals, whose appointments were ‘approved’ by the varsity as on September 14, 2017. The election to the senate from various constituencies are to be held before May 16 next year.

Due to the varsity decision, only 26 out of the 164 principals under various affiliated colleges  were included in the voters’ list. M Jeevanlal, syndicate member and Principal of Dr Palpu College of Arts and Science, Kollam, approached the High Court against the varsity decision. The High Court held principals of all colleges are entitled to be included in the electoral roll of principals in the senate election and directed the university to make suitable amendments.

AKGCT demands probe into faculty recruitment

T’Puram: The Association of Kerala Government College Teachers (AKGCT) has demanded a comprehensive probe into the faculty recruitment at the University of Kerala in the wake of allegations of irregularities in the interview process. “

The complaint about irregularities in the award of marks in the interview should be probed not only by a sub-committee of the syndicate,” AKGCT president K Ramakrishnan and general secretary Damodaran K K said in a statement. “Since the varsity is an institution where scores of appointments take place every year, only a probe by the government can bring out the extent of corruption,” they said.   AKGCT demanded freezing all examinations and interviews connected with appointments till the culprits are brought to book.