Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 31 (PTI) Governor Arif Mohammed Khan on Tuesday sought a report from Kerala University on the alleged factual error found in the PhD thesis of state Youth Commission Chairperson Chintha Jerome.
A young leader of the ruling CPI(M), Jerome has been facing intense criticism from various quarters for wrongly attributing 'Vazhakkula', an iconic work by renowned Malayalam poet late Changampuzha Krishna Pillai to another well-known poet Vyloppilli Sreedhara Menon in the PhD awarded by the university.
A Raj Bhavan source confirmed that Khan, in his capacity as the Chancellor, sought a report from Kerala University Vice Chancellor in this regard.
The Governor's action came hours after Jerome, in a press conference, admitted to the error crept in the thesis and assured that it would be corrected when the thesis gets published as a book later.
However, she denied the charges of plagiarism in the thesis levelled by the opposition youth outfits, who took out protest marches and demonstrations demanding a review of the doctoral degree awarded to her.
The Save University Campaign Committee (SUCC), an outfit campaigning against corrupt practices in varsities, also petitioned the Governor seeking review of the PhD awarded to Jerome.
The critics alleged that many portions of the thesis on the "Ideological Underpinnings in Select Malayalam Commercial Films of the Post-Liberation Era" were directly lifted from the internet.
They also sought action against Jerome and her research guide, who was supposed to check the quality of the thesis, for the grave mistakes found in it. PTI LGK LGK HDA HDA