Governor tells V-Cs to abide by Kerala HC directive on campus politics

A meeting of the Vice-Chancellors of State universities convened by Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar here on Thursday discussed the directive issued by the Kerala High Court to formulate a mechanism to regulate political activities of students on campuses and to ensure maintenance of discipline.

The Governor, who is also the Chancellor of the State universities, is learnt to have told the Vice-Chancellors to comply with the directive issued by the Kerala High Court.

The Vice-Chancellors briefed about the existing norms related to the code of conduct on the campuses and measures initiated to ensure discipline. The universities have agreed to abide by the court’s directive to frame appropriate rules and submit it before March 4.

They informed the Chancellor that required measures have been initiated to file the reports before the deadline prescribed by the court.

A Division Bench of Chief Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Syam Kumar V.M. had recently directed Syndicates of different universities in the State to formulate a mechanism to regulate political activities of students on campuses and to ensure the maintenance of discipline.

It had asked the State government; Principal Secretary, Education; Directorate of Collegiate Education; and the State Police Chief to take steps to prevent political clashes like the one that occurred in Maharaja’s College, Ernakulam, in 2018 which led to the death of a student.

While hearing a public interest litigation filed by Chengannur native Ajoy L.S., the Bench had reminded that the court had issued many directives to universities to formulate a long-term regulatory mechanism to address the issue.

Colleges too have to prevent such untoward incidents. Universities must ensure a congenial atmosphere on all campuses and take steps to ensure that academics is not compromised. Mahatma Gandhi University has already framed rules in this regard, and all the universities must consider the rules as model rules and frame appropriate rules, the court said.