Even two months after the reconstitution of its Senate, the University of Calicut is yet to hold elections to the Syndicate, the chief executive of the institution. It is learnt that Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, who is also the Chancellor of the university, is still working on his nominations to fill the vacant posts in the Senate.
Fourteen of the Syndicate members are elected from among the Senate members. Six others, such as the Vice-Chancellor, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Higher Education Secretary, Director of Public Instruction, Director of Collegiate Education and Information Technology Secretary, are ex-officio members. Another six have already been nominated by the State government.
The reconstituted Senate is going to have 108 members. Elections to choose members from various constituencies were completed by June 30. The Governor, who is also the Chancellor of the university, is now expected to nominate 16 members from different fields. Usually, the State government and the incumbent Governor reaches an informal understanding on who these people are. On most occasions, a large majority of those nominated are close to the ruling government.
Separately, the Vice-Chancellor is expected to recommend four of the senior Deans of Faculty and seven senior members among the heads of departments in various subjects to the Senate. According to sources, the Governor’s office had sought some clarifications in the list sent by the Vice-Chancellor. The sources said the clarifications had been provided and the file was awaiting approval.
Meanwhile, sources in the Governor’s office said a final decision on the nominations was expected after Mr. Khan returned to Thiruvananthapuram on Friday.
At the same time, academics aligned to the United Democratic Front have pointed out that the Syndicate was functioning only with nominated and ex-officio members, which was not legal. They also claimed that it would only serve the interests of the ruling party.
