Guv ‘stricture’ against higher edu min KT Jaleel

Thiruvananthapuram: Davendra Kumar Dho-dawat, principal secretary to Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, has said in a report that the decision of higher education minister K.T. Jaleel to constitute a special committee to revaluate the answer sheets of a BTech student from APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University was not as per norms.

The minister had no powers to announce revaluation and ensure moderations after conducting an adalat.

The adalat has taken action outside its jurisdiction.  Moreover, the decision of the minister to intervene in the case of only one student can be considered nepotism, the secretary opined. The note of the principal secretary was in response to the reply of the university vice-chancellor M.S. Rajasree. The principal secretary also pointed out that the stand of the vice-chancellor on the issue was also not proper.

In the meantime, the Governor, who is also the chancellor of the university, has convened a meeting of vice-chancellors on December 16 to discuss the issues related to the universities.

Governor Arif Mohammad Khan said the reputation of universities in the state must not be tarnished. Kerala has a long tradition in the education sector, he added while responding to queries regarding the university. “Don’t pour water on it. Such actions should not come from anyone’s side,” he said while talking to the media. The Governor said he has not accepted the secretary’s report on misuse of power by minister K.T. Jaleel.

Mr Jaleel has been alleged of violating norms to intervene and pass a BTech student who failed in one subject despite revaluation.

The adalat appointed a special committee to revaluate the answer sheet of the student under special recommendation. The student of Thangal Kunju Musaliar College of Engineering in Kollam had secured only 29 marks for the paper Dynamic Engineering in the sixth semester even as the minimum mark to pass the exam was 45. After the student submitted a request, the answer sheet was revaluated but he could not get enough marks to pass the exam. Following that, the student once again filed an application for revaluation. However, the university rejected the application as the student had not gained 15 percent marks more than the original score in the revaluation.

Following this, minister Jaleel intervened in the matter. He accepted a petition from the student as a special case and appointed a committee of two teachers to evaluate the answer sheet.

The special committee gave 48 marks to the student who then passed.