KOCHI: The bid to stifle the off-campus centres of the MG University has entered another phase with the Additional Chief Secretary in charge of Higher Education, K M Abraham, shooting off a letter to the varsity asking it to shut over 60 off-campus centres within the state but outside the varsity’s territorial jurisdiction.

This is almost three weeks after the same official had shot off a letter asking the university what action it had taken to close down the centres as per a direction of the University Grants Commission (UGC). However, university sources said that the order of the UGC was to restrict the off-campus centres within the territorial jurisdiction of the state.

A senior official of the university said that K M Abraham had been targeting off-campus centres for a while, especially since he was holding charge as the Vice-Chancellor of the university after Dr Rajan Gurukkal demitted office. He said Abraham even adjourned a Syndicate meeting when the Syndicate members unanimously argued the case of off-campus centres then.

MGU sources said that the fate of the off-campus centres turned for the worse after Registrar M R Unni was relieved of its charge and Dr Baby Thomas was given additional charge of it.

An MGU official alleged that the varsity was yet to get lakhs of rupees from the off-campus centres during the period when Unni was in charge. The university recently failed a case in the High Court on running the off-campus centres outside the state despite having the backing of an old SC order, allegedly because of the failure of the standing counsel in the High Court.