Digital University Kerala refutes allegations on BoG’s legality, chairperson’s tenure, faculty appointments

The Digital University Kerala (DUK) has rebutted “misleading” claims made by the Save University Campaign Committee (SUCC) in a formal complaint to the Governor regarding the legality of its Board of Governors, faculty recruitment processes, and audit observations.

In an official release, DUK clarified that the BoG meeting held on Friday was entirely within legal parameters as the university countered claims that the chairperson’s term had expired.

The SUCC alleged that the Kerala University of Digital Sciences, Innovation and Technology Act, 2021 (Act 10 of 2021), which established the university, stipulated that the “expert members”, including the chairperson, can only hold office for a period of three years.

However, the university has maintained that there is no prescribed fixed term for the chairperson of the BoG. Besides, the allegations regarding the three-year limit on the chairperson’s tenure are based on a misinterpretation of statutory rules, which actually apply to expert members nominated to the BoG by the chairperson.

“Even in such cases, the tenure is three years, extendable by a further period of two years. Therefore, the allegation that the chairperson’s tenure is limited to three years with a three-month extension is factually incorrect and appears to be misleading and malicious,” the release states.

DUK also termed the allegations of bypassing reservation norms in faculty appointments as entirely baseless. All appointments have been conducted through duly constituted selection committees in adherence to University Grants Commission (UGC) norms and applicable reservation policies.

The agenda item referred to in the complaint merely concerns the constitution/restructuring of selection committees in accordance with recent directions issued by the chancellor to all universities. The routine administrative process has been deliberately misconstrued as an attempt to dilute reservation norms, the university alleged.

Notably, the university points out that over 80% of DUK’s operational requirements are generated through externally funded research and consultancy projects. The university does not receive non-plan financial support from the government for meeting salary expenditures.

The university also addressed “false” claims regarding serious discrepancies identified by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in its functioning. “The CAG has also issued a preliminary communication seeking the university’s comments on certain observations, and the university has already submitted details to the queries asked,” DUK stated, while asserting that the allegation that the BoG meeting is intended to regularise discrepancies is “factually untenable”.