Malappuram just a district in the State of Kerala: Swaraj
The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) is pulling strings to its benefit as part of the UDF-led government, Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) State unit president M. Swaraj has said.
Mr. Swaraj said during a press conference here on Friday that the DYFI would organise a march to the office of the Deputy Director of Education on July 2 to protest against the alleged decision to give aided status to 35 schools in Malappuram. State-wide agitations would be conducted on July 10 against funding IUML trusts.
He said more protests would be staged until clearer guidelines were put in place regarding recognition of colleges. He also demanded that the grant of aided status to 35 schools in Malappuram be withdrawn.
The DYFI claimed that a number of these schools were managed by IUML members. Mr. Swaraj said this scheme would place a burden of Rs.9 crore on the government. “The IUML needs to understand that Malappuram is just a district, part of the State of Kerala,” the DYFI State unit president said, adding that communal disharmony and extremism were being instigated by the implementation of such attempts.
In addition, he alleged that 40 colleges recognised by the Calicut University were being funded by trusts managed by members of the IUML, in clear violation of university norms. The High Court on Thursday, in a move to improve the level of higher education in the State, considered revoking the affiliations held by private colleges with less than 40 per cent pass rate. “With this new development in the background, this issue assumes greater significance,” he said, demanding the withdrawal of affiliations of these colleges.
Mr. Swaraj said it was a shame that the State’s higher education sector had turned into a money-making venture, courtesy the IUML. The party was creating trusts and charitable organisations that put up a façade of running schools and colleges, but in truth, it was rife with corruption.
He targeted the UDF leadership for being weak, saying that the government seemed to be ruled by many chief ministers, with the Congress treading lightly around their key ally, the IUML. It was hesitant to take solid action against the “daylight robbery and blatant corruption” of the IUML.
The BJP and the ABVP launched protests against the grant of aided status to Malappuram schools, disrupting traffic across the city on Thursday.
March to DDE office on July 2 State-wide agitations on July 10
