more-in P.K. Radhakrishnan, who weathered a tumultuous period as the Vice Chancellor of the University of Kerala, is a content man as he steps down from office on Friday. “Notwithstanding the adversities, I have been able to achieve much of what I had set out to do,” he says. He said he had taken charge when the university faced the possibility of funds being withheld by the University Grants Commission owing to its failure in initiating the exercise for re-accreditation. NAAC team “The process of re-accreditation by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) had been pending for seven years. But we could present the achievements before the NAAC peer team within a few months,” Prof. Radhakrishnan told The Hindu. Slot in India Rankings During his tenure, the institution was ranked 29th among universities and 47th among all educational establishments in the country in the India Rankings 2017, under the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) of the Ministry of Human Resources Development. The high rank enabled the university to apply for the ?1,000-crore funding under the UGC’s Institution of Eminence scheme. Among his cherished accomplishments in the establishment of the Sophisticated Instrumentation and Computation Centre on the Karyavattom campus with cutting-edge equipment on a par with those available in national research institutions. The university bagged the first Chancellor’s Award in 2015. Often being accused of being “undemocratic” for invoking special powers under Section 10(13) of the Kerala University Act, Prof. Radhakrishnan said he was compelled to exercise the provision in view of students’ interests. “Such decisions were only taken for academic matters,” he said. ‘Outdated regulations’ Having overseen the legislation of seven regulations, he feels that the regulations pertaining to recognition of degrees were outdated and in dire need of revision. Prof. Radhakrishnan also called for filling teachers’ vacancies, which come to 40%, at the earliest. This would enable the university to accommodate about 600 research scholars and foster research output.

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