The Hindu : Soopy comes under fire in House

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jan 20, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

Soopy comes under fire in House

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, JAN. 19. The Deputy Leader of the CPI(M) in the Assembly, Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, alleged nepotism and favouritism by the Education Minister, Nalakath Sooppy, in the sanctioning of the unaided schools last year.

Participating in the debate on the motion of thanks to the Governor for his address, the CPI(M) leader said that the Education Minister had sent a note to the Director of Public Instruction, naming those who had recommended the schools. Thus, the official record carried the names of Muslim League leaders, including that of the brother of the State president of the Muslim League, Panakkad Syed Mohammedali Shihab Thangal. There was even a recommendation against sanctioning of a particular school.

Mr. Balakrishnan said that the no-objection certificates for B. Ed. colleges were sanctioned in contravention of the law. The corruption involved in the deals amounted to Rs. 15 crores. Now, Rs. 10 lakhs was being demanded for sanctioning new vocational higher secondary schools.

Demanding a judicial inquiry into the whole issue, Mr. Balakrishnan said that the corruption and irregularities had taken place with the knowledge of the Chief Minister, A. K. Antony. That was why Mr. Antony had not dropped the Minister from the Cabinet.

The reference of the complaint by the Metropolitan of Jacobite Church about a demand made to him for bribes for the issue of NOC to the Lok Ayukta meant little, as the Ayuktas were nominees of the Congress and the Muslim League.

He said that the wife of a Divisional Forest Officer, who was accused in a sandalwood case at Thalipparamba, was a partner to a company with which the Forest Minister, K. Sudhakaran, was associated.

Mr. Balakrishnan asked why Mr. Sudhakaran, who had filed a defamation suit against the Leader of the Opposition, V. S. Achuthanandan, for raising allegations against him, did not file a suit against the person who had accused him of kidnapping his sister.

The CPI(M) leader said that the Government had failed to protect the life and property of the people. As many as 79 communal clashes had occurred in the State and 18 had died. There had also been 32 political murders after the present Government came to power. As many as 119 Scheduled Castes and Tribes were killed during the period.

Noting that the Government was non-functional, Mr. Balakrishnan said that the Government had spent the first year blaming the LDF for the State's woes and the second year fighting with each other.

Congressmen themselves were organising rallies demanding the resignation of the Chief Minister, and this was a shame on the State itself. He said that the present Government accumulated debts totalling about Rs. 10,000 crores in two-and-a-half years. No benefits had come out of its initiatives such as the Global Investors Meet.

Criticising the withdrawal of some of the cases connected with the Marad agitation, Mr. Balakrishnan demanded that a white paper be published on the settlement of the issue. The Government had compromised to Hindutva, he alleged.

The Congress member, Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, said that the relevance of Marxism was being questioned in the CPI(M). It was the members of the AKG Centre branch committee, Joy Elamon and B. Ekbal, who had received funds from abroad. Thomas Isaac was being accused of being an agent of imperialism.

On the Opposition demand for judicial inquiry into the issue of NOCs for B. Ed. colleges, Mr. Radhakrishnan maintained that those who demanding inquiry were ones who had refused any inquiry into allegations like the sanctioning of Plus Two schools when in power.

The motion of thanks to the Governor's Address in the State Assembly on January 15 was moved in the House today by A.N. Rajan Babu of the JSS.

While highlighting the achievements of the State Government on all fronts over the past couple of years, Mr. Rajan Babu described as baseless, the allegations levelled by the Opposition on the issue of sanctioning B.Ed colleges. Recalling the hue and cry over the indiscriminate sanctioning of Plus Two schools all over the State by the previous LDF Government, he alleged that corruption and favouritism had reached an all-time high then. Giving a clean chit to the Minister for Education, Nalakath Soopy, he said the investigation ordered by the Government would bring out the truth.

P.S. Supal of the CPI, described the Governor's Address as a repeat performance. The Government had befooled the Governor as well as the people of this State. It had nothing new to offer to the State, he maintained. The Government was ineffective on all fronts. Corruption was rampant at all levels of administration. The Department of Education was worse than a market place. The IUML had "leaguelised" the educational sector, he added.

Dominic Presentation of the Congress, who supported the motion, was of the opinion that Mr. Sooppy should not be crucified on the issue of sanctioning B.Ed colleges. He too said that the LDF could not absolve itself of the irregularities in the sanctioning of Plus Two schools, when it was in power. Among the others who spoke in support of the motion of thanks were Kalathil Abdulla and K.N.A. Khader of the IUML, K.B. Ganesh Kumar (Kerala Congress-B) and Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, V.D. Satheesan and C.P. Mohammed of the Congress.

Neelalohithadasan Nadar of the Janata Dal and A.A. Azis of the RSP, opposed the motion.

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