Kerala governor Arif Mohammed Khan to order inquiry into favouritism in univ postings

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Governor Arif Mohammed Khan said he would soon order a full-fledged inquiry into complaints that several close relatives of ruling party leaders were appointed in state universities in the last few years, overlooking merit. Continuing his pungent remarks against Kannur University vice-chancellor Gopinath Ravindran, the governor said the VC was behaving like a 'cadre of the ruling party'.
"I'm going to have a full-fledged inquiry into all such appointments held in the last two-three years," Khan told reporters in New Delhi on Saturday. The governor was contemplating setting up a commission led by a retired high court/Supreme Court judge to scrutinize appointments, said sources close to Raj Bhavan. Thus, appointments of speaker M B Rajesh's wife in Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit and former MP P K Biju's wife in Kerala University would come under the scanner.
Khan said his office received complaints against political intervention and favouritism in appointments in universities. Khan said he won't be a mute spectator to the open looting of state's resources. "Their general attitude is that since the money doesn't belong to them, they will freely distribute it among their favourites," Khan said. "That's why they (ruling front) recruit people in personal staff and make them entitled for life pension after two years of service. This is against rules. This has to go," he added.
On the government's move to bring amendments in the Universities Act to render the chancellor's role insignificant in selecting university vice-chancellors, Khan said, "Why they want to make changes in the law? Their intention is clear. They want to have vice-chancellors who can appoint their family members in various posts, right from professor to lower-level staff."
Governor said the Kannur University vice-chancellor was not behaving like a vice-chancellor, but like a cadre of the ruling party. "How he conducted the whole episode shows that he wants to please the powers that be," he said.
Khan repeated that there was prima facie evidence against the selection of Priya Varghese, wife of CM's private secretary K K Ragesh, to the post of associate professor in Kannur University. Candidates with higher academic record and skills were ignored. He said Varghese did not possess the required teaching experience for the post. She was selected only because she was the CM's private secretary's spouse, he said. The governor is expected to be back in Raj Bhavan on August 24.