Governor Arif Mohammed Khan will seek the response of the Vice-Chancellor of Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cusat) over allegations of favouritism in the appointment of Usha K. Aravind, wife of Mahatma Gandhi University (MGU) Pro-Vice-Chancellor C. T. Aravinda Kumar, as Professor at the School of Environmental Studies (SES).
The Governor, who is the Chancellor of CUSAT, is likely to issue a letter to the Vice-Chancellor seeking his reply based on a complaint submitted to him by the Save University Campaign Committee (SUCC), according to the Governor’s office.
The SUCC had released the score sheet of the interview held for the appointment of the post of Professor at the School of Environmental Studies in 2019 received on the basis of an application filed under the Right to Information Act. The documents showed that the interview panel had allotted 19 marks out of 20 to her, while bypassing other candidates with higher academic and research credentials. A teacher with the highest academic qualification was awarded only five marks. An Associate Professor with over 21 years of experience at CUSAT was also rejected by the selection committee, it alleged.
SUCC chairman R. S Sasikumar and secretary M. Shajarkhan alleged in their complaint submitted to the Governor that Dr. Usha’s appointment was facilitated by “a fake experience certificate” issued by her husband when he was the director of the School of Environmental Studies. The university authorities had rejected the allegations saying that the appointment was done by adhering to the University Grants Commission (UGC) Regulations, 2010.
