Academic M.V. Narayanan is learnt to have emerged as the government’s nominee for the post of the Vice Chancellor of Calicut University.
Governor Arif Mohamed Khan, who is also the Chancellor, however, is keeping his cards close to his chest, even though the search committee had forwarded its list of short-listed candidates in mid-May.
According to sources, the government had earlier favoured K.M. Seethi, then Professor, School of International Relations and Politics, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam for the post. V.K. Ramachandran, Vice Chairperson, State Planning Board, and Tom Jose, former Chief Secretary, members of the committee, had proposed his name along with two others.
However, Mr. Seethi retired in May last week after turning 60, which is also the upper age limit for the post of VC as per university rules.
If the government insists on his appointment, arguing that he was below 60 when he applied for the post, it is likely to be challenged in court. The sources pointed out that the government had been advised to avoid a legal tangle, and that is how Mr. Narayanan came into the picture. He was second in the list of names proposed by M. Jagadesh Kumar, Vice Chancellor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, another member of the search panel. The first was C.A. Jayaprakash, Principal Scientist, Central Tuber Crops Research Institute, Thiruvananthapuram, and Suresh Mathew, Professor, School of Chemical Sciences, Mahatma Gandhi University, was the third. He is believed to be a “consensus” candidate.
Mr. Narayanan, Professor, Department of English, Calicut University, had been at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla, as part of a project till recently. He has now rejoined the university. Mr. Narayanan is a Left fellow-traveller, having done his research in performing arts of Kerala.