Vijayan demands withdrawal of circular allowing increase in college seats

Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Assembly, Pinarayi Vijayan, on Sunday registered his protest against the state government's decision to allow autonomous aided and self-financing colleges to increase seats without prior approval. According to a report by Hindustan Times, Vijayan has demanded the immediate withdrawal of this decision and alleged that it will lead to the commercialisation of education. He questioned whose interests the government is protecting.

According to former Chief Minister Vijayan, a circular was issued by the Higher Education Department on 11 September, which made it mandatory to obtain prior government approval for starting new courses and increasing seats in government, aided, and autonomous colleges. However, under pressure from private college managements, the government has relaxed these rules and weakened the previous regulatory system.

Vijayan alleged that the current provision, which states that no Objection Certificate from the government is required to start unaided courses and increase seats in autonomous aided and self-financing colleges, is extremely shocking. Allowing the arbitrary increase of seats without assessing the need for colleges and ignoring current regulatory methods will lead to the commercialisation of education.

He added that such concessions were granted immediately after a meeting between the Higher Education Minister and representatives of college managements, which is also contrary to the assurances given to the Supreme Court. He claimed that by abolishing annual inspections and allowing the government to be informed about seat increases only after the admission process is completed, a major conspiracy has been hatched to sell seats by taking bribes and tampering with merit and reservation provisions.

Stating that such steps will jeopardize the educational rights of the common people, especially the poor, and that government control will be destroyed, Vijayan demanded a comprehensive legal inquiry into the matter.

Pinarayi Vijayan is a former Chief Minister of Kerala and currently holds the responsibility of Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Assembly. He is a senior leader of the CPI(M).