Kerala may have a few Chancellors for its 14 universities in place of the Governor, the only Chancellor of all the State universities.
The draft Ordinance moved by the State government to remove the Governor from the post has proposed to have eminent and reputed academicians as the chancellors of the universities. The government has suggested amendments to the statutes of the universities to have prominent academicians replace the Governor as its Chancellor.
The government may even consider the option of clubbing universities of similar nature and appointing Chancellors for the clusters of universities.
The Kerala Kalamandalam, a deemed to be university, and the National University for Advanced Legal Studies, which has the Chief Justice of Kerala as its Chancellor, have been excluded from the ambit of the Ordinance.
The provisions
The Ordinance proposes a five-year term for the Chancellor, who can be re-appointed for one more term. No age limit has been prescribed for the Chancellors.
The office of the Chancellor, an honorary position, will be at the headquarters of the university. The burden for providing the office, staff and required infrastructure required for the smooth functioning of the office of the Chancellor will be on the university, according to the Ordinance.
The government has listed a few conditions for the removal of the Chancellor from the office. If the official is declared as an undischarged insolvent or becomes incapable to continue in office due to physical or mental disabilities, the government can sack him/her.
If the Chancellor is found to be of unsound mind and declared so by a competent court or convicted for an offence, which in the opinion of the Government, involves moral turpitude or financial irregularities, he/she can be expelled.
Abusing the official position can also be a ground for the removal of the Chancellor from the post if the government feels that his/her continuance in office would be prejudicial to the public interest, according to the Ordinance.
