Soopy should resign on moral grounds: Kodiyeri

By Our Staff Reporter

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, SEPT. 14. The Deputy leader of the CPI(M) legislature party, Mr. Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, MLA, has said that the continuance of Mr. Nalakath Soopy as the Education Minister would pave the way for the ruin of the educational sector in the State.

Inaugurating the 44th annual meeting of the Kerala Legislature Secretariat Staff Association here today, he said the Minister should resign on moral grounds in view of the allegations that he had offered a bribe to a human rights activist for withdrawing a case against him in the Lok Ayuktha. The Chief Minister, Mr. A. K. Antony, should show the courage to remove Mr. Soopy from the Ministry, he said.

The fact that Mr. Soopy had not refuted the allegations in public gave rise to suspicion, he said.

The UDF Government's decision to sanction self-financing professional colleges in the private sector is sure to pave way for largescale corruption, he said. The mushrooming of professional colleges would only result in the destruction of Government Medical and Engineering Colleges in a few years. Higher education would become out of reach for everyone except the wealthy, he added.

Mr. Balakrishnan added that the UDF Government's educational policy was not different from the educational policy of the Union Government. While the BJP Government is trying to saffronise the education sector by deciding to teach astrology in the Universities, the State Government is trying to politicise the educational sector by revising the syllabus which was formed by an expert committee, he said.

The double-faced policy of Mr. A. K. Antony was evident from the fact that he had not opposed "saffronisation"., he said. The Chief Minister says that the use of the term "saffron" itself is wrong when the Congress president, Ms. Sonia Gandhi, has clarified that her party would oppose saffronisation. Mr. Antony should clarify his stand on this matter, he urged.

Mr. Balakrishnan alleged that the UDF Government was misleading the people by coming out with contradictory statements on the financial crisis. Though the UDF had stated that the accumulated deficit was Rs. 28,000 crores, the white paper on economy says that the deficit is Rs. 23,000 crores.

The Government is also trying to cheat the State Government employees by saying that the retirement age would be raised. The Government is yet to pay four installments of Dearness Allowance, he added.

Mr. Balakrishnan also said that the terrorist attack in U.S.A should be a lesson for States which sponsored terrorism. The attack is a "tit for tat" for U.S.A, which played a major role in the disintegration of the U.S.S.R and also for toppling the democratic Governments in other countries, he added.

The chairman of the organising committee, Mr. Kadakampally Surendran, the president of the KLSSA, Mr. J. Vikramakurup, the general secretary of the KSTA, Mr. Rasheed Kanichery, the secretary of the Janadhipathya Mahila Association, Dr. T. N. Seema and Mr. S. Sasidharan also spoke.

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