Kerala Governor removed from deemed university chancellor post

Even as the Kerala government's decision to remove the governor Arif Mohammed Khan from the chancellor post of 13 universities hangs in the balance, the state government on Thursday decided to remove him as chancellor of Kerala Kalamandalam deemed to be University.

According to an order issued by the cultural affairs principal secretary Rani George, the rules of the university have been ammended to enable an eminent person from the field of art and culture to fill the chancellor position.

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The move did not require the governor's nod as it is a deemed university, sources said.

Meanwhile, the ordinance for removing the governor from the chancellor post of other universities was yet to reach the governor. The state cabinet on Wednesday decided to bring in the ordinance.

It was learnt that since governor Arif Mohammed Khan already said that he would refer the ordinance to the President, the government was considering the option of withdrawing from the move. Instead, a bill in this regard would be introduced in the next session of Assembly, to be it passed.

Sources said that in case the governor refers the ordinance to the President it would take a long time and the government may not be able to bring in a bill when the ordinance is pending with the President. Hence the option of passing a bill in the Assembly was being considered.