Speaking to ‘Asian Mirror’, Roshan Fernando, Secretary of FUTA, said a special meeting in this regard would be held on February 18 with the participation of Dr. Sunil Jayantha Navarathne, Secretary of the Higher Education Ministry.

Fernando added that the Higher Edication Ministry has usurped the powers of the University Grants Commission and appointed the Minister’s son as the Secretary of the committee.

“Usually, when such appointments are made, the Ministry takes measures to gazette the names of the new board members. But this time, the names of the committee members remained as a secret until the last moment. That means the Ministry attempted to hide Narada Dissanayake’s appointment as the Secretary of the committee,” the FUTA secretary added saying the attempt to hide the new appointment raise serious doubts about Dissanayake’s (jnr) ability to function as the Secretary of the committee.

“Ideally, a senior member of the University Grants Commission should function as the Secretary of this committee,” Fernando said.

Dissanayake’s Linkedin profile says he is “a Master of Applied Econometrics at Monash University and a Bachelor of Economics and Finance.” He is married to Lakshi Netticumara, daughter of Vajira Nettikumara who was arrested recently in connection with a Casino at Union Place, Colombo.