A day after Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan directed Vice Chancellors of nine varsities in Kerala to quit, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday said that the Governor has been misusing the Chancellor post to exercise more powers than he holds. Kerala Education Minister R Bindu on Sunday condemned Governor AM Khan's move.
"Governor (Arif M Khan) is misusing Chancellor post to exercise more powers than he holds. It's undemocratic & an encroachment on VCs' powers. The Governor's post is not to move against govt, but to uphold constitution's dignity. He's acting as a tool of RSS," Vijayan said as quoted by news agency ANI.
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Earlier, Minister Bindu condemned AM Khan's move of directing nine VCs to quit calling it "unfortunate situation". As reported earlier, the Governor demanded the resignations of the vice chancellors of nine universities in the state, citing a recent Supreme Court decision that invalidated the appointment of the VCs of the APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University in this city for violating UGC rules.
Raj Bhavan on Sunday said in a statement, "The letters directing Vice Chancellors of nine Universities of Kerala to tender their resignation by 1130 AM on 24 October 2022, have been issued."
The appointment of Dr. Rajasree MS as vice chancellor of APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University had been overturned by the apex court because, according to the University Grants Commission, only one name from the search committee's panel of at least three qualified candidates should have been forwarded to the chancellor.