KOLLAM: Taking his criticism against trade unions for approaching the High Court on the ESI medical college issue to the next level, N K Premachandran MP has said that history would not forgive those who tried to block the takeover of MCH at Paripally by the state government from the ESI Corporation.
Trade unions such as CITU, AITUC, BMS and a faction of INTUC had obtained a stay order from the court two days ago. According to Premachandran, the chances of beginning the MBBS course this academic year has hit a roadblock due to the order. As many as 100 MBBS seats, of which 35 were reserved for the wards of ESI employees, have gone to waste.
Those who were in the entrance list, but could not afford expensive medical education from private institutions, have lost their chance to join MBBS course due to the stay order, said the MP. “After the court allowed admission at Konni and General Hospital, the government could have sought permission to start admission at Paripally. But, the recent order makes it impossible for the government to approach the court regarding the admissions.”
The stay order came before the government could sign the agreement with the ESI Corporation. According to Premachandran, had the government signed the agreement, the course could have been started by September 30. He accused the trade unions of trying to sabotage the deal to disrupt the admissions and termed the decision by trade unions as a betrayal of the working class.
“In effect, the stay has stalled the utilisation of `540 crore of public money for public good. Expensive hospital equipment will get destroyed if they are not used on time. The trade unions are responsible for the disruption of activities of the medical college,” said Premachandran.
G Lalu of AITUC, who was party to the petition, said the stay order was effective only for a month and the state government should convene a meeting to remove the confusion with regard to employee rights when the ESI Corporation hands over the MCH. CPI leader G S Jayalal MLA accused the UDF government and N K Premchandran MP for not dealing with the fundamental issues of the ownership of MCH.