State-run varsities in Kerala are in a mess as the Govt plays favourites with card-holding cadres
The controversy involving Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan and the CPI(M)-led State Government over the appointment of faculty in universities and the process of selecting vice-chancellors does not augur well either for the Governor or for the State administration. The unfolding unfortunate developments are a blot on Kerala, rated as one of the States with high literacy rates. Cynics may take solace in the fact that the total literacy claimed by the State is nothing more than the ability of people to write down their name in their mother tongue and put a signature. That is the much-acclaimed ‘total literacy’ of the State! The Marxists, ruling the State uninterrupted since 2016, are on a mission to paint the academic institutions red by appointing card-holding cadres as faculty and vice-chancellors. This has led to deterioration in the standard of State universities. More than academic prowess, what matters in the State is one’s political leanings and the people known in the party hierarchy. The Congress, the main Opposition, is equally to be blamed for the state of affairs. Both the LDF and the UDF are vying with each other in giving two hoots to the dignity of higher education.
The vice-chancellors are appointed not only on political lines but even on caste and communal lines. For example, the Calicut University was established in 1968 by the then EMS Namboodiripad-led Government to keep the Muslim League in good humour. Of the 11 vice-chancellors who served the university, eight were from the Muslim community. When the CPI(M) catered to the demands of Muslims, could the Congress be a mute spectator? It carved out the Mahatma Gandhi University to appease the powerful Christian community. Of the 23 varsities in Kerala, 13 are owned by the State. The vice-chancellors and faculty members of these universities are appointed from among the relatives and associates of party leaders. The recent appointment of the wife of the Chief Minister's private secretary as an associate professor in Kannur University has opened a Pandora's box. The appointee had just 156 marks and did not meet the norms. Joseph Skariah, who scored 651 marks in the selection process, was sidelined in her favour. The State universities were also in the news for appointing wives and sisters of party commissars, ignoring any semblance of transparency and honesty. That is higher learning in Kerala!