KOCHI: The Mahatma Gandhi University Syndicate which met at the university headquarters in Kottayam on Saturday decided to recommend to the Governor who is the chancellor of the university to confer DLitt on litterateur T Padmanabhan and NRI industrialist and Lulu Group Managing Director M.A. Yusuff Ali. The Syndicate also decided to study in detail the controversial proposal to donate 10 acres of the university to Kerala Sports Council for constructing an indoor stadium.
The MGU Syndicate also decided start new 10 study departments in Economics, Hindi, Geology, Commerce, Mathematical Science, Theatre and Writing, Psychology, Nano Science and Technology, Energy Materials and Artificial Intelligence and Robotics. The permission of the state government will be sought in this regard.
The Syndicate meeting chaired by Vice-Chancellor Dr Babu Sebastian decided to implement reservation in PhD for SC/ST to ensure social justice along with merit. The meeting also decided to complete the work on the higher education research laboratory in a time-bound manner spending Rs 132.75 crore sanctioned by KIIFB.
It was also decided that the recognition of the unaided MPil courses run in aided colleges and self-financing colleges will be cancelled from the academic year 2018-19. Fine will be slapped on teachers who erred in valuation. Meanwhile the Congress supported MG University Employees Union held a protest march to the hall where the Syndicate meeting was held demanding to cancel the move to sanction 10 acres to Kerala Sports Council for constructing an indoor stadium.
The union leaders said that the move will lead to surrendering of university assets to another body and it will accord no benefit to the student and university communities. Union secretary N Mahesh said that the university was already facing land scarcity to implement several of its projects availing funds from KIIFB and also Central bodies and hence the current move will boomerang on it. He warned of indefinite agitation if the move is not dropped.
