Kerala govt appoints Mallika as Chancellor of Kerala Kalamandalam

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala government has appointed Mallika Sarabhai, a well-known classical dancer as chancellor of Kerala Kalamandalam deemed-to-be-university of art and culture.

The Kerala government has amended the rules of Kerala Kalamandalam deemed-to-be-university to remove Governor Arif Mohammad Khan as its chancellor in November 2022.

"As per clause 29.1.0 of the Memorandum of Association of Kerala Kalamandalam Deemed to be University for Art and Culture, The Chancellor shall be an eminent person in the field of Art and Culture appointed by the sponsoring body," read the order from Kerala government.

"In view of the above, Government are pleased to appoint Mallika Sarabhai (Darpana, Usmanpura, Ahmedabad, Gujarat) as the Chancellor of Kerala Kalamandalam Deemed to be University for Art and Culture," it added.

Last month on November 21, Kerala Governor said that he would not allow favouritism and nepotism in appointments in state universities. Talking to the media, the governor had said, "It is my duty to ensure that appointments on basis of favouritism and nepotism are not allowed. As long as I am here, I will not allow that. Only people who are qualified, and meet all the requirements of the UGC will be appointed."

The governor further said "If somebody sitting in CM's office is directing VC to appoint his relatives and if the CM doesn't know about it, shows how incompetent he is. If he knows about it, then he is equally guilty."

Earlier, the Pinarayi Vijayan-led Kerala government sent an ordinance to Rajbhavan for the removal of Governor Arif Mohammed Khan from the post of chancellor of the state universities.

Kerala Raj Bhavan had on November 12 confirmed that it received the ordinance to remove the Governor from the post of chancellor in various universities.

The Kerala Cabinet on November 9 decided to bring in an ordinance to remove governor Arif Mohammed Khan from the post of chancellor. The cabinet's decision came after Governor sought the resignations of vice-chancellors of all nine universities in the state.

As per an order issued by the Kerala Governor, Vice-Chancellors of the University of Kerala, Mahatma Gandhi University, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies, Kannur University, APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University, Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, University of Calicut and Thunachath Ezhuthachan Malayalam University have been asked to resign from their posts. Later the VCs of nine universities moved the High Court challenging the Governor's order to tender their resignations.

The Governor had also appointed Ciza Thomas as Vice Chancellor in-charge of the APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University (KTU) in Thiruvananthapuram.