The Hindu : Kerala News : Court ruling unfortunate, says VS

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jul 30, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

Court ruling unfortunate, says VS

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, JULY 29. The Leader of the Opposition, V. S. Achuthanandan, has termed the Supreme Court stay on operation of the Kerala Self-Financing Colleges (Regulation of Admissions and Fee Structure) Act as "unfortunate".

Reacting to the Supreme Court decision at New Delhi today, Mr. Achuthanandan said the Act would not have been questioned in the Supreme Court if the Government had taken appropriate measures to get it included in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution.

RSP allegation

The RSP State secretary, T.J. Chandrachoodan, has said that the Government has colluded with the private self-financing college managements to facilitate the Supreme Court stay on operation of the Self-Financing Colleges (Regulation of Admissions and Fee Structure) Act.

Talking at a press conference here today, Prof. Chandrachoodan said that the Supreme Court's decision to stay the Act would aggravate the crisis in the higher education sector. Everybody who knew the intentions of the Government had predicted this and it was now clear that the Antony Government was hand-in-glove with the private managements even as it spoke about getting the Act included in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution, he said.

`Vacate stay'

The Government, Prof. Chandrachoodan said, should take immediate steps to get the stay vacated. The court decision could turn the education field into a battlefield once again. The Chief Minister, A. K. Antony, should take urgent measures to remove the Education Minister, Nalakath Soopy, and the Minister for the Welfare of Backward and Scheduled Communities, M.A. Kuttappan, from the Cabinet, he added.

Prof. Chandrachoodan called for early talks between the Government and the students to settle the row in the education sector.

He condemned the attack on media organisations by student activists.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Kerala