Malayalam University Bill passed

April 10, 2013 04:57 pm | Updated July 01, 2016 02:33 pm IST - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

A file photo of Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy inaugurating the Malayalam University named as ‘Thunjath Ezhuthachan’ University at Thiroor in Malappuram. Photo: PTI

A file photo of Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy inaugurating the Malayalam University named as ‘Thunjath Ezhuthachan’ University at Thiroor in Malappuram. Photo: PTI

The Assembly unanimously passed the Thunchath Ezhuthachan Malayalam University Bill, which seeks to replace an ordinance issued earlier providing for the establishment of the university, on Tuesday.

The House adopted several amendments to the original legislation, including one to leave all appointments of non-teaching staff of the university to the Public Service Commission. The House considered more than 1,000 amendments to the Bill during the discussions that went on till 9 p.m. A provision was incorporated to set up chairs in the name of eminent persons in addition to those specifically provided for in the legislation.

Winding up discussions on the Bill, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said that finances would not be a hindrance to the functioning of the new university. He said that a decision on classical status to Malayalam was expected to be taken soon.

Major objective

Education Minister P.K. Abdu Rabb, who piloted the Bill, said that equipping the language to enable teaching of science and technical subjects in Malayalam would be a major objective of the new university.

He said that the proposed faculty advisory committees would not take away the decision-making powers of the academic council or faculty as their recommendations would be of advisory nature only.

Deputy Leader of the Opposition Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said that steps should be taken urgently to get UGC recognition for the university. Otherwise, the university would face financial stringency. Mr. Balakrishnan said that the new speciality courses proposed by the university would be beneficial only if they were designed with employability in view. Mr. Balakrishnan suggested that the university develop a computer-friendly script for Malayalam. It should also have a school for translation.

He called for steps to make Malayalam the official language for court proceedings. The amendment to leave appointments of non-teaching staff to PSC would not work in the absence of will to carry it out.

Though similar decisions had been taken in the case of other universities, appointments through PSC were yet to commence.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.