Kannur University Row: Congress accuses Kerala's Left govt of 'reserving' appointments

Kochi: Targeting the Left government in Kerala over some controversial appointments in the state-run universities recently, the opposition Congress on Wednesday claimed that an attempt was on to degrade the autonomous varsities into mere "government departments.'

Alleging that the faculty appointments in universities have been "reserved" for the ruling CPI(M) leaders, it said the party-led government's move to change the fundamental recruitment procedures would 'destroy' the autonomous stature of the universities.

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Addressing a press conference here, Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly V D Satheesan urged the Pinarayi Vijayan government to entrust the university appointments with the Public Service Commission (PSC), the state's apex recruitment agency, to ensure transparency.

The government was trying to change the existing procedures of the university recruitment with the objective of appointing its own party personnel and their near ones, he further alleged.

"It amounted to degrading the autonomous universities into government departments... The faculty appointments in the universities are reserved only for the CPI (M) leaders and that is the unfortunate circumstance prevailing in the state now-a-days," Satheesan charged.

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He also questioned the rationale behind the recent appointment of Priya Varghese, wife of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's personal secretary K K Ragesh, as an associate professor in Kannur University despite her poor research score compared to other candidates. The main opposition party came down heavily on the state government in the wake of reports that the cabinet has decided to approve a Bill which would purportedly dilute the powers of the Governor as Chancellor.