Kerala - Kochi   

Societal ills back in new form: Baby

— Photo: H. Vibhu

SHARING PLEASANTRIES: Education Minister M.A. Baby with former Supreme Court judge and chairman of the Kerala Law Reforms Commission V.R. Krishna Iyer at the Dr. Palpu Memorial Award presentation ceremony in Kochi on Saturday.

KOCHI: While many injustices that were prevalent in society during yesteryear have been wiped out, they are staging a comeback in new forms, Education Minister M.A. Baby said.

Speaking after handing over this year’s Dr. Palpu Memorial Award to V.R. Krishna Iyer, former judge of the Supreme Court, he expressed dissatisfaction at the way self-financing colleges were being run and said the majority of managements were doing grave injustice to students from financially-weak families. “These institutions were sanctioned on the condition that 50 per cent seats would be given to meritorious but financially-backward students. Now, many of the managements are withdrawing from their social-contract and commitment, raising different excuses.”

He said people like Dr. Palpu, Sree Narayana Guru, Ayyankali, Chattambi Swamy and Sahodaran Aiyyapan were beacons to society. They fought injustice and donned the leadership role for many struggles. It is high time Kerala society entered into a serious debate on societal ills. People like C. Kesavan gave a call to burn down places of worship where superstitions prevailed. Nowadays, many among affluent sections of society pretend to be believers, for selfish aims, Mr. Baby said.

Mr. Iyer said in his reply that Dr. Palpu had to practise medicine in Mysore, after he was denied a job in Travancore. “Apart from injustice, corruption and human-rights violations were on the rise, to the extent that poor people do not have money even to buy food. We need society-conscious organisations to take up the case of the downtrodden,” he said. He was selected for the award in recognition of his contributions to society.

K.V. Thomas, MLA, spoke about the contributions of Mr. Iyer to reforming colonial laws and societal well-being. Secretary of Dr. Palpu Memorial Educational and Charitable Trust C.K. Vidyadharan said the Trust has been striving for the welfare of people working in different fields. Adoor Prakash, MLA, was among those present.

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