O J's Corner : Reflections

The left wants to win
a brownie point

The Left Democratic Front Government in Kerala is vitiating the education sector by prolonging the self-financing colleges issue without settling it on its own.

A series of court interventions have gone against the arguments of the State Government. Still it is going ahead with its rigidity. It thinks that political rhetorics can salvage them.

When the Supreme Court asked the parties concerned to have the trial of the self-financing colleges legislation in the High Court first, the left parties went all out in jubilation saying the apex court had done something in their favour. The court had only referred the matter to the High Court.

The single bench of the High Court, in its well-considered interim direction, wanted the State Government and the private managements to proceed with admission as was done last year levying the fee in the same pattern.

The government saw some loophole in the situation prevailing at that point of time. Only engineering and nursing colleges had approached the High Court against the legislation passed by the Assembly.

The government wanted to take advantage of the situation even as the High Court directive was in existence. It went ahead with counselling for MBBS and BDS admission. The students were told that those who did not respond would lose their chance. They proceeded with counselling and paid the fee in bank.

When the government challenged the order of the single bench, it tried to project the situation as though all the students have accepted the government’s action.

The division bench directed the government to get clarification from the single bench, which reiterated the fact that the earlier order was relevant to all self-financing professional courses.

Now it was the turn of the division bench to consider all aspects in detail. After hearing the issue in depth, the court issued the fiat that, in the interest of the students, admission should be made following the procedure adopted last year.

Meanwhile the larger issues can be agitated before the court in September.
Again the government is approaching the Supreme Court challenging the order of the division bench. That is fair enough. All avenues should be pursued to get at the constitutionality or otherwise of the piece of legislation made in haste challenging the very core of  rights enjoyed by minorities for the last half a century.

Some of the CPM leaders thought that intimidation would work out well to browbeat the managements. Actually that would prove counter-productive.

The fact that the medical college under the co-operative sector had demanded Rs 25 lakh for an NRI seat proved the hollowness of the government’s argument. Now it is clear that the government was taking on the private managements, particularly those belonging to the minorities.

The government wanted to bring the institutions run by the minorities under its control one way or other. It is becoming clear day by day that it is simply impossible to do so.

The financial muddle in admissions should have been treated in a different way. A new legislation was not needed to handle corruption. Instead, the government wanted to go in for sweeping changes dismantling the structure that was available with private managements for more than five decades.

In the bargain, certain silver linings in the stream of thought given out by the government relating to education also got dissipated.