By P. Sreekumaran
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It is an extremely worrying development. The VD Satheesan-led United Democratic Front (UDF) government is facilitating the saffronisation of higher education in the State.
It is also part of the political somersaults being executed by the new Chief Minister V D Satheesan. The latest U-turn is on the PM SHRI(Pradhan Mantri Schools for Rising India) scheme of the Union Government. This is totally different from the stand – vehement opposition to the programme – Satheesan took as the former Leader of the Opposition. Among the other leaders who vociferously opposed the PM SHRI scheme when they were in the opposition are the new Industries Minister and senior Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) leader P. K. Kunhalikutty and his ministerial colleagues N. Shamsuddin and K. M. Shaji.
The later had gone to the extent of crowing that if the UDF came to power the PM SHRI scheme would be dumped in the Arabian Sea! The ‘roaring lions’ have now become meowing cats, meekly changing their stances fearing the wrath of the Modi-led Union Government. The Chief Minister is now blaming the former LDF Government for changing his stand on the issue. Satheesan’s contention was that his government has been forced to continue with the project as the previous Left Democratic Front (LDF) Government had already entered into an agreement to implement the scheme and received funds from the Union Government! This is nothing but an unadulterated lie.
True, the LDF Government had inked the agreement in October last year. And the Union Government had sanctioned the long-held-up Samagra Shiksha funds amounting to Rs 92.41 crore. However, as the Communist Party of India (CPI), the most prominent ally of the CPI(M) in the LDF, vehemently opposed it, the LDF Government then decided to put the pact on hold. Also, the claim of the UDF Government that the LDF government had received funds meant for the PM SHRI scheme was another lie. What the previous Government received was only the Samagra Shiksha funds. Not even one rupee of the PM SHRI funds has been received by the Pinarayi Government, according to then Education Minister V. Sivankutty. The Chief Minister is hiding the fact that the LDF Government had stopped the scheme’s implementation, he added.
The new Chief Minister is on record trying to defend the indefensible., His latest remark is that implementation of the scheme will be on the condition that the Union Government will not intervene in the curriculum and that the State will have the freedom to choose the schools where the scheme would be implemented! This is a totally misleading statement meant to hoodwink the people. If Satheesan thinks that the Centre will release the PM SHRI funds even if the State Government refuses to implement the scheme in toto, he is living in a fool’s paradise. The CM’s stand is nothing but an exercise in self-deception besides being a shameful step aimed at cheating the people at large.
The CM has actually decided to set up a Cabinet sub-committee to study the implementation of the scheme. The panel will have General Education Minister N. Shamsudheen as the convener and will consist of Higher Education Minister Roji John, Tourism Minister P. C. Vishnunath and Excise Minister N. Liju as its members. This clearly shows that the UDF Government has decided to go ahead with the scheme.
Meanwhile, the participation of three University Vice-Chancellors in a Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) programme attended by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat has kicked up a major controversy.
The presence of Kerala University of Health Sciences (KUHS) VC Mohanan Kunnummal, Mahatma Gandhi (MG) University VC in-charge Mavoothu D and Thunchath Ezhuthachan Malayalam University VC in-charge C. R. Prasad at the event held in Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday, has evoked widespread condemnation.
Leader of the Opposition (LoP) Pinarayi Vijayan lambasted the VCs’ action by saying that secular Kerala views the development with extreme seriousness amid debates on imposition of the Sangh Parivar agenda on universities. Mr. Vijayan also accused the UDF Government of avoiding any confrontation with the Governor. The Government’s pusillanimity has allowed the RSS to tighten its grip on the higher education sector His Government, Pinarayi stated, had even introduced a bill in the State Assembly to prevent saffronisation and protect higher education. But the UDF Government had vehemently opposed it. On his part, CPI(M) state secretary M. V. Govindan said the new CM’s demand for a mere apology from the VCs is unacceptable as it does not address the larger issued.
The Federation of University Teachers Association (FUTA) has argued that Vice-Chancellors who have been entrusted with safeguarding universities as institutions of autonomy should not act as mere servants of power centres. They are supposed to maintain strict neutrality and administrative sensitivity while remaining above political and social pressures. However, the three VCs betrayed their partisanship by attending the event. If they were keen on serving the RSS, they should resign their posts and join the organization, FCUTA stated.
The UDF Government’s soft stance towards the RSS and BJP was clear from its earlier refusal to condemn the rendering of the full version of Vande Mataram at the swearing-in ceremony of the Satheesan Government. The CM lived up to his fast-growing reputation for uttering falsehoods by saying that he was unaware of the Lok Bhavan’s decision! Which, again, was nothing but an unvarnished lie. The government is informed in advance of the full details of the protocol at the swearing-in. This being the reality, Satheesan’s claim of being totally in the dark over the issue only reeks of the UDF’s capitulation to the saffron brigade.
This is an extremely dangerous and disturbing trend which poses a grave threat to the secular ethos of Kerala. The BJP-RSS duo’s attempt to convert Kerala into Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh must be resisted with full force. This is the paramount task all secular democratic forces must take up with alacrity, the educationists in Kerala point out. (IPA Service)
