Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said here on Friday that CPI (M) was running with the hare and hunting with the hound in the issue of admissions to self-financing professional colleges.
On one side, the party was organising violent agitations over admissions to the self-financing colleges. At the same time, institutions under its control were acting similar to the Inter Church Council for Education, by refusing to admit students under government quota. Both the CPI (M) and the Inter-Church Council should have introspection on their stands in view of the High Court and Supreme Court orders mandating government quota. The Council should recognize the fact that social equity could not be ignored in the 21st century and must cooperate with the government, the Chief Minister said.
The government, he said, is committed both to protecting minority rights and ensuring social equity. The government ensured 50 per cent government quota for merit based admissions, which the previous government could not do in five years. It was the policy laid down by the Antony government that the colleges should make 50 per cent of the admissions based on merit list. When the managements failed to follow that, the government issued orders taking over the seats and fought the case successfully in the courts.
He wondered why the previous government had sanctioned post-graduate medial courses to professional colleges which did not accept the 50 per cent norm for admissions to MBBS courses. Though the Opposition leader had said that the party men who had taken money for admissions to the Pariyaram Medical College controlled by the party would face action for breaching party discipline, only one Ramesan, who had paid for admission of his ward at the college, faced action from the party.
Mr. Chandy was speaking to the media after the inauguration of live webcast of the functioning of his office.
