Cusat gets new VC; setback for Congress

IN NEW ROLE: J. Letha

J. Letha, incumbent Director of Technical Education, has been appointed as Vice Chancellor (VC) of Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cusat). The decision has come as a setback for the Congress leadership because two of its nominees who figured in the panel were overlooked by Governor P. Sathasivam when he signed the dotted line.

Congress nominees

The Congress leadership had backed the candidature of Cusat Pro Vice Chancellor Paulose Jacob and former Registrar A. Ramachandran, two other names in the panel. Hibi Eden, MLA, resigned as member of Cusat Syndicate in protest against the failure of the Congress party to safeguard its interests in a politically-charged appointment system for top varsity positions. Mr. Eden was the member of the search committee that recommended the names.

Political affiliation

According to Congress sources, Ms. Letha had been appointed as Director of Technical Education by the former LDF government overlooking claims of other seniors in the profession only because of her political affiliations to the CPI(M).

The failure to push for the party’s nominee came up for a heated discussion at the KPCC committee meetings on Friday.

Sources said the appointment should be read along with recent set back that the Congress party had received in similar appointments to top varsity posts.

Under the unique political sharing mechanism adopted by the UDF, it was for the Congress party to suggest a nominee for the post of Cusat Vice Chancellor. It also reflects the pulls and counter pulls in the Congress and the divergent perceptions of its leaders.

It took over a year for the Congress and the UDF to arrive at a consensus on the selection of Kerala University Vice Chancellor. In the case of the newly set up Technical University, the party had not succeeded in getting its nominee installed as Registrar of the university, sources pointed out.