Southern States - Kerala-Thiruvananthapuram   

Syndicate meet to decide fate of Registrar

By G. Mahadevan

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM Nov. 5. A final decision on the action, if any, to be taken against the Registrar of the University of Kerala, Jayadeva Das, on the `medical college transfer issue' is likely to be taken at a meeting of the University Syndicate on November 7.

The report of the three-member Syndicate team that probed the `controversy' arising out of a no-objection certificate given by Dr. Jayadeva Das to the transfer of a girl student from a medical college in Bihar to the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College, will be placed before the Syndicate on November 7.

Sources in the university said that the report has not been able to come up with any concrete evidence to prove that the Registrar acted with any undue haste or showed partiality in issuing the NOC to the said student. ``All that the inquiry team has been able to conclude was that the Registrar should have taken more time over the matter and that he should have asked for a file to be put up on the matter,'' a top university official said. Dr. Jayadeva Das has been on suspension ever since the three-member inquiry team began its investigation.

With the Vice-Chancellor, B. Ekbal, openly coming out against what he has called "a mafia'' in the top echelons of the university, some Syndicate members and a section of the University employees are now asking why statutory officials of the university have to wait in suspension even as some Syndicate members constitute one inquiry after the other to suit their political and personal compulsions. The `controversy' over the present registrar's actions was first probed by a five-member Syndicate team.

It has been pointed out that G. Sidhardhan, who was the registrar prior to Dr. Jayadeva Das, has now been out of that post for one-and-a-half years. The Syndicate team that is probing the reported misuse of his official position by Dr. Sidhardhan, is yet to come to a conclusion on the matter. After a six-month suspension, Dr. Sidhardhan is now working as Director of the College Development Council. While Dr. Sidhardhan is scheduled to retire in January 2003, Dr. Jayadeva Das will retire by the end of November.

According to some university employees, the situation has come to such a pass that even top officials such as the finance officer or the controller of examinations are hesitant to take any quick action or decision as they are afraid of any subsequent inquiry or disciplinary action.

As a result of a slew of inquiries and allegations in the recent past, top officials are now `acting by the book' on any file put up before them. This, it is pointed out, is leading to a lot of administrative delays in the university and is putting the students to a lot of hardship.

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