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Kerala Assembly passes bills to remove Governor as Chancellor of universities

The Kerala Assembly passed two University Law (Amendment) Bills to replace the Governor as the Chancellor of universities in the State on December 13, 2022. The United Democratic Front (UDF) staged a walkout in protest against the refusal to accept all of its proposed amendments to the Bill and the alleged efforts being made to turn universities into Marxist centres.

The legislation will enable the government to appoint academicians or “persons of eminence” in various fields of knowledge including agriculture and veterinary science, technology, medicine, social science, humanities, literature, art, culture, law or public administration.

The Opposition sprung a surprise during the discussion as it moved a motion to appoint one Chancellor for 14 universities instead of separate Chancellors for each. They also proposed appointing a retired Supreme Court judge or a retired Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court to the post and creating a selection committee comprising the Chief Minister, Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court and the Leader of Opposition for the purpose.

Law Minister P. Rajeeve, who had piloted the bills on behalf of the Chief Minister, highlighted potential legal hurdles in including the Chief Justice in the panel. He, instead, proposed the inclusion of the Speaker in the panel that would be chaired by the Chief Minister and also have the Leader of the Opposition as a member. The amendment too was passed by the Assembly.

Rajeeve, however, refused to entertain the other proposals that were made by the Opposition. This prompted the Leader of Opposition V.D. Satheesan to accuse the State government of paving the ground to bring people they favoured to the helm of the universities and erode their autonomy.