Satheesan slams government for throwing State’s higher education sector into ‘disarray’

Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan has accused the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan of throwing the State’s higher education sector into total disarray and allowing petty power politics between the Governor and the government to undermine the future of thousands of students.

Talking to mediapersons at Kollam on Tuesday, Mr. Satheesan said that under the Left government, almost all of the universities in the State did not have Vice-Chancellors and several colleges did not have Principals. Several postgraduate courses have been discontinued, while several degree courses did not have any takers.

Thousands of certificates are awaiting the signature of the Vice-Chancellors and several new courses, the approval of the government. Most of the students are leaving the State to find better options for higher studies.

The students here are the victims of the political games being played by the Raj Bhavan and the government and yet, the State seems least bothered. The aggressive and violent protests being carried out on a daily basis is all because the Senate hall was given on rent for a private function, Mr. Satheesan pointed out.

‘Threatening opponents’

He said that by openly threatening violence against voices of dissent, the State’s ruling front was promoting a dangerous political culture. The Ministers are now threatening their political opponents with dire consequences. The State’s health sector is wallowing in a deep crisis and now the government can have the satisfaction of bringing the higher education sector too to the brink of ruin, Mr. Satheesan said.

He alleged that the Chief Minister himself was the biggest Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) agent. He said that the person who secretly held discussions with the RSS leadership was not V.D. Satheesan but Pinarayi Vijayan. It was Mr. Vijayan himself who won elections in 1977 with the RSS support, he alleged. He also accused Mr. Vijayan of cosying up to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership on the sly, all the while watching out for Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on his back

Crisis within front

Mr. Satheesan said that the crisis within the Left front never makes headlines because the media chooses to play it down. A political party which is a constituent of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) at the Centre is a constituent of the Left front in Kerala, he pointed out.

He also accused the media of blowing up issues within the Congress out of proportion while at the same time turning a blind eye to the political violence being promoted openly by the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) and the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI).