Kerala guv seeks report from varsity regarding appointment of CPI(M) leader’s wife

Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan on Monday sought a report from the Sree Sankaracharya University, Kalady, regarding the row over appointing a CPI(M) leader’s wife as assistant professor in the Department of Malayalam. Former CPI(M) MP MB Rajesh’s wife joined the university as assistant professor on Wednesday. However, earlier this week, an external interviewer wrote to the Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kalady, stating irregularities in the selections made to the vacant position.

Umer Tharamel, Head of the Department of Malayalam and Kerala Studies at Calicut University, and two other subject matter experts, who interviewed Ninitha, questioned the university’s ‘rank list’ where Ninitha came first under the Muslim Reservation category, and alleged that the university had given her preference over other candidates who had scored better in their interviews.

On his social media page, Umer also wrote that this was his “first experience where the rank list went topsy turvy.”

However, the university authorities denied these claims, stating that their selection process was transparent.

Following the row, both the Congress and the BJP in Kerala had criticised the university for ‘perverting’ the selection process and denying eligible candidates the opportunity they deserve. The parties had also alleged that these ‘backdoor’ appointments showed the nepotism and red-tape in the CPI(M) and LDF government.

Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala even sought to make these alleged backdoor appointments an election issue. According to reports, he released a list of names of relatives of top CPI(M) leaders who held well paying jobs in the public sector.

The LDF government has also been criticised for not making public the Public Service Commission or PSC vacancies in the state. According to its critics, the state had made over 3.5 lakh illegal PSC appointments by skirting the selection process. 

On Monday, the state also witnessed street protest by PSC rank holders against ‘back door appointments’. A PSC rank holder even doused kerosene on himself in front of the secretariat building, threatening to immolate himself.

The government has now agreed to extend the span of PSC rank lists.