Representational Image | Photo: Sajan V Nambiar
Thiruvananthapuram: In response to the grievances received concerning the promotion and appointment of principals in government colleges across the state, a new committee has been established to review these concerns.
The Kerala government has faced wide criticism for allegedly attempting to compromise the principles' appointment process in favor of candidates affiliated with the CPM-backed union.
The chairman of the committee will be the Principal Secretary of the Department of Higher Education. The committee will examine all complaints and grievances regarding appointments and promotions.
The other members of the committee include the Director of Collegiate Education, Additional Secretary (F Section), Prof J Prasad (former VC, Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit), Dr CT Aravindkumar (former PVC, MG University), Dr Sabu A (former PVC, Kannur University) and Prof KS Anil Kumar ( registrar, MG University). Two experts would also be part of the committee to examine different topics.
Presently, 66 government colleges are functioning without permanent principals, and instead, senior professors have been temporarily assigned the responsibility. Earlier, a selection committee, headed by the Director of Collegiate Education, under the University Grants Commission (UGC) Regulations, shortlisted 43 senior Professors from among 111 applicants for the post of Principals.
However, candidates from the CPM-backed union were not named in the draft list prepared by the selection committee and later approved by Kerala Public Service Commission (PSC).
However, the whole process came to a standstill after the government constituted an appeal committee in January to raise complaints and grievances regarding the selection list. The Save University Campaign Committee has alleged that govt intend to appoint undeserving candidates to the post.
Initially, the list prepared by the selection committee rejected candidates who failed to publish research papers in journals approved by UGC. However, the government issued an order allowing the committee to evaluate research papers published in college journals. The government also issued a separate order to allow time served during deputation in non-teaching posts as work experience. Following this, a draft list was again published in January. The new committee would examine the complaints and submit a report.
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