Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan on Saturday justified his action in having the search committees to select Vice Chancellors for six state-run universities without their nominees, saying that he was performing his responsibility as the Chancellor.

The Governor said that the universities did not provide their representatives to the search committees despite repeated requests and therefore he proceeded further in the matter to perform his responsibility as the Chancellor of the universities in the state.

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The Governor on Friday constituted search committees to select Vice Chancellors for six state-run universities without their nominees. The move may further escalate tension between the Governor and the LDF government in Kerala.

The Raj Bhavan issued notifications constituting the search committees for Kerala University, Mahatma Gandhi University (MGU), APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University (KTU), Kerala Agricultural University (KAU), Thunchath Ezhuthachan Malayalam University, and Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (KUFOS).

Distinguished technocrats have been appointed to the selection committees. S Somanath, Chairperson of the Indian Space Research Organisation, has been appointed Chancellor’s nominee and convener of the search committee tasked with selecting the next V C of Kerala University. Prof Battu Satyanarayana, Vice Chancellor of the Central University of Karnataka, represents the University Grants Commission (UGC) on the panel.

For Mahatma Gandhi University, the search committee members are Dr KRS Sambasiva Rao, former Vice Chancellor of Mizoram University, and Anandharamakrishnan, Director at the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology,  Thiruvananthapuram.

The search committee for Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies includes Prof Sanjeev Jain, Vice Chancellor of Central University of Jammu, Dr PK Abdul Azis, former Vice Chancellor of Cochin University of Science and Technology and Aligarh Muslim University, and Dr JK Jena, Deputy Director General (Py Science), ICAR, Pusa, New Delhi.

APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University’s search committee comprises Prof Kshiti Bhushan Das, Vice Chancellor of Central University of Jharkhand, Prof P Rajendran, former Vice Chancellor of Kerala Agricultural University, Thrissur, and Dr S Unnikrishnan Nair, Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram.

The search committee for Thunchath Ezhuthachan Malayalam University includes Dr Jancy James, former Vice Chancellor of Central University of Kerala and Mahatma Gandhi University, and Prof Battu Satyanarayana, Vice Chancellor of Central University of Karnataka.

For Kerala Agricultural University, the committee members are Dr CV Jayamani, former Professor at Cochin University of Science and Technology, Prof Alok Kumar Rai, Vice Chancellor of University of Lucknow, and Dr Himanshu Pathak, Secretary of the Department of Agricultural Research and Education and Director-General of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research.