Kerala Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar on Friday said the responsibility for higher education in the state lies with the Governor.

Responding to state Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who criticised the University Grants Commission’s (UGC’s) new draft regulations, Arlekar said that the responsibility for higher education in the state lies with the Governor.

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“The Governor is responsible for higher education in the state. There are no two opinions on this,” Arlekar said in New Delhi on Friday.

He said that the courts themselves have clarified this and that if there are any misunderstandings on this issue, they can be resolved. “There are no two ways about it. The government and the people of Kerala are excellent. I will work together with the government for the good of the people of Kerala,” Governor Arlekar said.

Referring to the Chief Minister’s criticism against former Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, Arlekar said that the former Kerala Governor performed his duty brilliantly. Chief Minister Vijayan the other day accused Arif Mohammed Khan of acting in a manner not befitting the state.

The draft regulations of the UGC place significant power in the hands of Governors as Chancellors of the universities in the states, including their role in the selection of vice-chancellors.

Criticising the UGC’s new draft regulations as part of an agenda to totally abolish the rights of states in the field of higher education, Chief Minister Vijayan the other day said that this move undermines the constitutional view that the governor’s actions should be in line with the state cabinet’s advice.

CM Vijayan alleged that it was a continuation of the commercialisation, communalisation, and centralisation policies imposed by the UGC and the central government. In a statement, Pinarayi Vijayan alleged that the proposal to give chancellors greater control over the selection of vice-chancellors was against the principle of federalism and violated the basic values of the Constitution.

“This suggestion has shattered the constitutional perspective that the governor should act as per the advice of the council of ministers. The appointment of VCs in universities in states as per the interests of the Union government (which appoints governors), is a challenge to the concurrent list in the Constitution,” he said.

Chief Minister Vijayan also criticised the proposed change that would enable people who are not professors to become vice-chancellors. “This is just a shortcut to bring Sangh Parivar nominees to the top of university governance. There is strong protest against the encroachment upon the rights of states. I urge all democratic forces in the country to come out against the Sangh Parivar agenda in the UGC draft regulations,” he said.