The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Kodiyeri defends police role at test venue

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Thursday, Jun 28, 2007
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Kerala

Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Kodiyeri defends police role at test venue

Special Correspondent

The Home Minister says the police acted promptly to avert any untoward incidents.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan has strongly refuted the Opposition charge that the police had stepped aside allowing Students Federation of India (SFI) activists to indulge in vandalism at the venue of the common entrance examination for MBBS course conducted by the Private Self-Financing Medical College Managements’ Association in Kochi the other day.

Replying to a submission by K. Babu (Congress) in the Assembly on Wednesday, Mr. Balakrishnan said the police was present in sufficient strength under the leadership of the Thrikkakkara Assistant Commissioner of Police at the examination venue and that they had acted promptly to avert any untoward incident.

Although the managements had approached the Kerala High Court seeking police protection for the examinations, it was not given. Activists of the SFI, All India Students Federation (AISF) and All India Youth Federation (AIYF) had marched to the examination venue and are alleged to have damaged tables and chairs worth Rs.25,000. The police could not prevent it as the students reached the examination venue individually and not as part of a march, but had still arrested 29 of them and registered cases against them.

The Government, the Minister said, did not believe in beating up students or using electric batons, teargas shells or water cannons against students, as had been done by the UDF Government.

Leader of the Opposition Oommen Chandy questioned the Home Minister’s claim and cited newspaper reports which stated that the SFI activists had arrived at the examination venue in a procession led by the organisation’s State president Sindhu Joy.

The Minister was clearly trying to mislead the House, Mr. Chandy said.

Paddy procurement

Replying to another submission by Thomas Chandy (DIC), Food and Civil Supplies Minister C. Divakaran said the Government paid a record amount of Rs.116.29 crore to farmers from whom the Kerala State Civil Supplies Corporation (Supplyco) had procured paddy. The Government owed the farmers another Rs.21 crore and would clear this amount at the earliest, he said.

Mr. Divakaran said the corporation had procured 15.17 lakh tonnes of paddy from 30,686 farmers in 18 taluks this year as against eight lakh tonnes procured last year. There was some delay in making payments to the farmers, but this was addressed promptly.

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