Thiruvananthapuram:The long-standing dispute between the Kerala government and Governor Rajendra Arlekar over university Vice-Chancellor appointments has been resolved through a consensus. The breakthrough came after a meeting between Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the Governor.
As part of the agreement, Dr. Sisa Thomas will be appointed Vice-Chancellor of APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University (KTU). It was also agreed that Dr. Saji Gopinath will be appointed Vice-Chancellor of the Kerala Digital University.
A search committee had prepared panels of eligible candidates and submitted them to the Chief Minister. The Chief Minister prioritised the names and forwarded the lists to the Governor for approval. In the list submitted by the Chief Minister, Dr. Saji Gopinath topped the panel for the Digital University, while C. Satheesh Kumar was placed first for the Technological University.
Dr. Sisa Thomas and Dr. Priya Chandran featured in both panels and were reportedly preferred by the Governor. Citing the fact that they were the only common candidates in both lists, the Governor informed the Supreme Court that he had proposed Dr. Sisa Thomas for the Technological University and Dr. Priya Chandran for the Digital University.
Earlier efforts to resolve the standoff, including talks held at Raj Bhavan by ministers P. Rajeev and R. Bindu with the Governor, had failed. The latest agreement between the Chief Minister and the Governor has now brought an end to the impasse over the Vice-Chancellor appointments.
