Thiruvananthapuram, Mar 25(PTI) The Kerala Assembly on Tuesday witnessed heated arguments between the ruling and opposition fronts during discussions on two University Laws (Amendment) Bill towards the fag end of the day’s proceedings with the UDF boycotting the House over certain remarks by state Higher Education Minister R Bindu.
After the opposition walked out of the House, the two Bills were passed by the assembly.
The Leader of Opposition in the state assembly V D Satheesan said the UDF was boycotting the House proceedings in protest against certain remarks made by Bindu against Congress MLA Rahul Mamkootathil.
Satheesan claimed that the remarks by the minister were not fit for use in the House and the same should be removed from its records.
He also said that since Bindu was not withdrawing the comments and was sticking to them, the opposition was boycotting the House.
The minister, on the other hand, accused Mamkootathil of making personal remarks against her and said, “if a person who is young enough to be my son can make such comments, then so can I”.
Mamkootathil, during the last round of discussions on the Bills, said that it only aims to take away the powers of the Vice Chancellors (VCs) of the universities and give them to the Pro-Chancellor — the Higher Education Minister.
He also claimed that instead of addressing the issue of lack of VCs and principals in many universities and colleges, respectively, in the state, the minister was only making sarcastic comments.
“It is just as dangerous to communise universities as it is to saffronise them,” he contended.
The opposition also claimed that the bills were aimed at taking away the autonomy of the universities and establishing the dominance of the state government over their functioning.
Bindu, rejecting the contentions of the opposition, said that instead of going through the Bills, which have several provisions aimed at strengthening the universities, in entirety, the UDF was fixated on the sole section with regard to powers of the Pro-Chancellor.
She said that the bills aim to bring changes to the University Laws in accordance with the changing times and circumstances, like the University Grants Commission’s (UGC) draft regulations of 2025.
She also denied that there was any intention behind the Bills to bypass the VCs or usurp their authority regarding the functioning of the universities in the state.
The minister said that the Bills only aim to clarify what are the powers of the Pro-Chancellor so that there are no arguments about it in instances where there is no VC. PTI HMP HMP SSK ROH
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