Just as the controversy over the reconstitution of its Senate and Boards of Studies refuses to die down, Mahatma Gandhi University has landed in another showdown, with employees protesting against the Acting Vice-Chancellor’s decision to reshuffle administrative staff.

The latest controversy centres around a series of transfers and postings carried out following the restructuring of administrative sections and the appointment of personal staff for the new Vice-Chancellor. The protesting employees allege that section officers attached to several key administrative wings of the university were transferred arbitrarily to serve narrow political interests.

“Several of these officers had assumed charge in their respective sections only recently and had not completed the mandatory tenure there. As per the university’s general norms, transfers are effected only after employees complete a three year tenure in a section. However, these established guidelines have been disregarded and the Acting Vice-Chancellor has carried out the transfers allegedly as part of a Sangh Parivar driven agenda,” said a leader of the MG University Employees’ Association, which is spearheading the agitation.

Procedures bypassed

The association alleged that several officers brought in to head these sections in place of the transferred officials belong to service organisations affiliated with the Sangh Parivar. According to the protesters, established procedures were bypassed to appoint preferred individuals to key positions that could influence important administrative and policy decisions of the university.

“Ever since D. Mavoothu assumed charge as the Acting Vice-Chancellor of MG University, Sangh Parivar nominees have been inducted into key university bodies, including the Board of Studies and the Senate, under the leadership of the Chancellor, with the aim of implementing the organisation’s agenda. At the same time, the UDF government has chosen not to respond to these developments,” the association leaders alleged.

The employees’ body has already launched its protest by staging a demonstration at the university campus. The organisation has warned of intensified agitation if the authorities fail to address its grievances.