Kerala: Congress accuses Left govt of 'reserving' appointments in state-run universities

Kochi: The opposition Congress charged on Wednesday that an effort was being made to reduce the autonomous varsities to merely "government departments" in response to some recent contentious appointments in the state-run universities in Kerala.

The opposition Congress charged on Wednesday that an effort was being made to reduce the autonomous varsities to merely "government departments" in response to some recent contentious appointments in the state-run universities in Kerala.

In order to ensure openness, V D Satheesan, leader of the opposition in the state assembly, requested the Pinarayi Vijayan administration to commit the university selections to the Public Service Commission (PSC), the state's top hiring body.

He added that the administration was attempting to alter the current rules for university recruiting in order to hire members of its own party and close associates.

"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 nowadays," Satheesan charged.

In addition, he questioned why Priya Varghese, wife of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's personal secretary K K Ragesh, was recently appointed as an associate professor at Kannur University despite having a subpar research score in comparison to other applicants. Following allegations that the cabinet had planned to pass a Bill that would reportedly limit the powers of the Governor as Chancellor, the state government came under harsh criticism from the main opposition party.