The Hindu : Kerala News : Chandy alleges attempt to stump State

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Monday, Nov 08, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

Chandy alleges attempt to stump State

By Our Staff Reporter

The Chief Minister, Oommen Chandy, paying floral tributes at Shankar's samadhi in Kollam on Sunday.

KOLLAM, NOV. 7. The Chief Minister, Oommen Chandy, has said that it is puzzling to note that when Kerala started building up more professional colleges, the authorities who are entitled to issue technical sanction are coming out with terms and conditions which are practically difficult to implement.

He was addressing a meeting after inaugurating the Shankar Institute of Paramedical Services on the occasion of the 32nd death anniversary of R. Shankar, former Chief Minister.

Discrimination

The Chief Minister said that such terms and conditions were not imposed when other States were building up professional college infrastructure. Those States had completed constructing their requirement of professional colleges.

But when Kerala started building such institutions, new terms and conditions were being imposed. This, he alleged, was a deliberate move to stump the State from having its own infrastructure for the professional education sector.

In this context, he said that it was the precondition imposed by the Indian Medical Council that a medical college and its hospital should be located in the same compound having a 25-acre spread which was coming in the way of the S.N. Trusts having its own medical college. He said had such a condition not been imposed, the Shankar Hospital had the facilities to function as a medical college.

Offers help

Mr. Ommen Chandy said that in the contemporary educational situation, a medical college under the management of the S.N. Trust becomes imperative. He said that if S.N. Trust takes the initiative, he was prepared to raise the issue with the Centre so as to help the Trust own a medical college. He said that raising slogans would not help create job opportunities. The Trust was making a practical approach in overcoming the unemployment problem by opening the paramedical college.

R. Shankar was a man who had clear views on education and also made valuable contributions in the field. Mr. Chandy said that steps were taken to overcome the problems of the traditional industries in the State at the earliest. The chairman of the S.N. Trust Medical Mission, Vellappally Natesan, presided over the function and the chairman of the S.N. Trusts, Pattathuvila Damodaran, delivered the keynote address.

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