No rift with Govt., says Kannur varsity VC

By Our Staff Reporter

KANNUR, AUG. 28. The Kannur University authorities have disputed reports of a rift between the university administration and the Government over the issue of shifting of university offices to Mangattuparamba here, reiterating their stated position that they are not opposed to establishment of university headquarters in the Kannur Municipal area if adequate land is available for the purpose.

Talking to reporters at his office on the Mangattuparamba campus here today, the Vice-Chancellor, Dr. P.K. Rajan, said that the reported controversy over the shifting of some offices of the university was built upon the alleged differences between the university and the Government over the issue. However, the university authorities had never opposed any proposal for retaining the university headquarters within the municipal boundary provided adequate land was made available to it. He also denied reports that university functioning was paralysed following the hasty shifting.

``There is a sense of relief among the staff now that their working conditions here are far better than in the shabby offices housed at the rented building in Kannur town,'' Dr. Rajan said.

Stating that the real issue concerning the university's shifting was the question of the site of the university headquarters, Dr. Rajan said though the university had officially decided to set up the headquarters on a proposed 100-acre campus at Madayippara, the new Government favoured the retaining of the headquarters within the municipal area. Since no proposal for an alternative site for the headquarters in the municipal limits was raised by anyone so far, the university constituted a three-member committee comprising the IUML leader and former Kannur municipal chairman, Mr. P. Kunhimohammed, the former Principal of the S.N. College, Thottada, Prof. O.P. Dhanalakshmi, and retired Government engineer, Mr. S.P. Pavithrasagar, to identify the land for university headquarters in the municipality within two months. The committee's first meeting would be held on September 14, he said.

Referring to the view of some detractors that the university office be shifted to another rented building in the town till the headquarters was set up at a proper site in the town, Dr. Rajan said such views betrayed poor understanding of what an university really was. If the university offices had not been moved to the newly developed Mangattuparamba campus now, they would have to function in the leaking rented buildings for another four years, he said adding that further delay in shifting would hamper the development of the university.

The Mangattuparamba campus was the second campus to be developed to form part of the multi-campus university, the first being the Thalassery campus at Palayad. Within next two years, work on another campus at Payyannur would begin, he said.

The Vice-Chancellor also said that the decision to shift the offices had been taken to accelerate the efforts to obtain the UGC's 12(B) recognition for the university required for getting UGC aid. Unless the university got that recognition, it would lose financial aid during the five-year period of the 10th Plan, he said. ``The university has done what it can do to fulfill the UGC's stipulations for the recognition such as the setting up of a minimum seven teaching and research departments and development of own properties,'' Dr. Rajan said and added that creation of three teaching posts each in all but two departments was also to meet the UGC's norms.

The UGC's requirement for amending the Kannur University Act as per the model Act of the UGC was a matter to be decided between the State Government and the UGC. Moreover, continuing in the rented building even after completion of the campus would attract audit objection, he pointed out.

The Pro-Vice Chancellor, Dr. M.O. Koshi, the Registrar, Dr. P.H. Subramanyan, and the Syndicate members, Dr. C.P. Sivadas, Mr. James Mathew and Mr. A.J. Joseph, were also present.

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Section  : Southern States
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