Board of Governors of Digital University Kerala to meet on Monday

The Board of Governors (BoG) of Digital University Kerala will convene on Monday (August 18, 2025) for the first time in over three months.

The meeting of the BoG, chaired by academic entrepreneur Vijay Chandru, had been earlier postponed due to the uncertainty over the tenure of Vice-Chancellor in-charge Ciza Thomas. However, her reappointment as interim Vice-Chancellor has paved the way for the meeting. The university regulations mandates the BoG meets at least once every three months.

A report submitted recently by Prof. Thomas to Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar on alleged irregularities within the university could likely figure in the discussions. The Vice-Chancellor had flagged purported misuse of government funds, unauthorised private ventures by faculty members and irregularities in high-profile projects, including the flagship ‘Graphene-Aurora programme,’ in her report.

The allegations had sparked a political debate, with Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan accusing the university of violating statutory norms and making unauthorised advance payments to a private company. However, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan rejected the allegations as baseless and staunchly defended the Graphene-Aurora programme.