Thiruvananthapuram: United Democratic Front (UDF) convener P.P. Thankachan has demanded Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan's intervention to settle the current tussle between Minister for Education M.A. Baby and managements of self-financing professional colleges.

In a statement here on Sunday, Mr. Thankachan also demanded that the Government arrive at a consensus formula by taking the Opposition into confidence. Instead of talking in a tough manner, the Minister should seek the path of consensus and settle the row, since the management of private professional institutions had climbed down from their declared positions.

Mr. Thankachan alleged that the Education Minister was talking as if the Communist Party of India (Marxist) was in total control of the State. He seemed to have forgotten the fact that the Left Democratic Front came to power on the strength of a minor swing in voting pattern. The Government should not delay a decision on the issue, considering the future of thousands of students seeking admissions to professional institutions.

He disagreed with the Minister's view that the institutions run by minority communities did not desire minority status. The UDF was in total agreement to his stand that strong action should be taken against capitation fee and corruption in the functioning of these institutions, even while protecting the rights of the minority communities according to Constitutional provisions, he added.

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