Chief minister should replace Mallika Sarabhai as Kalamandalam chancellor: SUCC

Thiruvananthapuram: Save University Campaign Committee (SUCC) has urged chief minister V D Satheesan to remove Mallika Sarabhai as the chancellor of Kerala Kalamandalam. The CM should replace Sarabhai as chancellor and the cultural minister should be the pro-chancellor, the committee said a memorandum to the CM.

The demand, said the committee, was raised in view of the huge financial burden caused by the appointment of Sarabhai. The financially weak deemed university was struggling to fund for the chancellor’s expenses. She was appointed as the chancellor in 2022 by stripping the then governor Arif Mohammed Khan of the position. The change costs an additional burden of Rs 50 lakh to the university, the committee said.

“The university is forced to meet the huge expense of Sarabhai when it is struggling to pay salary to employees. Following Sarabhai’s appointment as chancellor, due to protocol rules, the minister for cultural affairs could not continue in the post of pro-chancellor of the university,” the memorandum said.

Besides Sarabhai’s salary, the university also had to cover extra costs for her executive-class flights from Maharashtra and her accommodation. The authority to appoint the chancellor of the deemed university rests with the govt.