Kerala Youth Commission chairperson Chintha Jerome of the CPM is caught up in a trouble with the family of a celebrated Malayalam poet demanding that the PhD degree awarded to her by Kerala University should be withdrawn owing to a wrong reference in the doctoral thesis about the author of a popular work of the poet. This controversy has come on top of continuing Left attack on the education system in Kerala.
The Controversy
Chintha Jerome mentioned in her doctoral thesis that ‘Vazhakkula’ (bunch of bananas), a popular work of poet Changampuzha Krishna Pillai, was written by another known poet Vyloppilli Sreedhara Menon. The work was submitted in 2021 and cleared by her guide Kerala University former pro-vice-chancellor P.P. Ajayakumar as well as an expert panel that awarded the PhD. But the goof-up came out recently only. Krishna Pillai’s family has now demanded that Jerome’s PhD should be withdrawn. The poet’s daughter Lalitha told a section of media that it was improper to award PhD to one who submitted a work containing factual error. Students may go wrong. It is for teachers to correct them. Hence the teachers who cleared the thesis containing factual error should be held more responsible, she said. Save University Campaign Committee, a forum that works against irregularities at universities, demanded a review of the PhD awarded to Jerome. The committee also suspected plagiarism in the work.
The issue had also raised questions over the PhDs being awarded by Kerala University especially since there were allegations of plagiarism in doctoral thesis works of Kerala University earlier also. The row over the PhD work of Jerome had come out at a time when Jerome is caught up in an embarrassment over claiming 17 months arrears based on her revised honorarium, amounting to ₹8 lakhs, at a time when the state was facing acute financial crunches. Jerome is also a member of the ruling CPM state committee in Kerala. Without drawing opinion of any sorts, it is plain and clear that ‘worker for party and party for workers’ is the rule that is being applied everywhere in Kerala.
Party Nepotism Runs Deep
Kerala Governor Dr Arif Mohammad Khan has long been highlighting rampant nepotism and corruption in the state where the ruling CPM finds ways to appease its party workers by giving them government jobs. Not so long ago he had pointed out this trend of ‘party nepotism’ running deep in the state ruled by CPM. A controversy had erupted last year when a candidate named Priya Varghese was selected as an Associate Professor of Malayalam at Kannur University. Priya Varghese is the wife of KK Ragesh, a CPM leader and the private secretary of CM Pinarayi Vijayan. Governor Arif Mohammad Khan has used his powers as the chancellor of universities to cancel the appointment. The decision has come a day after Kannur University Vice Chancellor stated that there were no irregularities in the appointment process of Priya Varghese.
At that time, again, many organisations, like the ‘Save Universities Campaign’ and candidates, had objected to Priya Vargheses’ selection for the post. A candidate named Joseph Scariah scored 651 and was in the second position in the list. Another candidate who had scored above Priya had also complained. It is notable here that Priya Varghese, the wife of the CPM leader had the ‘lowest score’ of 156 among 6 candidates, but she was declared the top candidate in the rank list after an interview conducted by a committee led by the vice-chancellor.
An RTI query revealed that Priya was selected for the post despite the ‘lowest’ score. The RTI also revealed that Priya’s non-teaching experience was included as teaching experience by the University. In another instance, in his capacity as the Chancellor of the universities, Governor Khan in the State, froze the notification and issued sans VC’s knowledge for ‘illegal mass appointments’ in APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University (APJAKTU). The Governor has asked to take action against those guilty after issuing proper Show Cause Notices. The notification was meant to appoint ‘close’ candidates to the ruling Front (or party) despite the government directive to fill temporary vacancies through Employment Exchanges. Notification made it clear that the appointments would be based on interviews. And it did not say how many vacancies there were. There were allegations that these ‘conditions’ were excuses for largescale corruption. These incidents underline in bold letters what Governor has been stating about nepotism and corruption in the functioning of the CPM-led Left Democratic Front regime with CPM leader Pinarayi Vijayan at the helm. VC is kept in the dark about the notification for large-scale appointments.
These instances are actually only a tip of the iceberg of ‘crony-communism’ that is being practiced rampantly in Kerala. If the corruption in varsities is not stopped, Kerala will be staring at a bleak future for its famed ‘education model’ as Left will again and again strike at the heart of educated Kerala with its axe of party favouritism.
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