THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Friday said that Plus-II courses would be allotted in schools in 148 panchayats which do not have Plus-II schools at present, from next academic year.
Interacting with 25 students from various district, who are members of Youth Parliament, organised under the aegis of the Institute of Parliamentary Affairs, he said additional Plus-II batches would be allotted this year to meet the demands of the students.
The students raised various questions on issues of current relevance.
Agreeing to the opinion of one of the Youth Parliament members that the single-window system was delaying the admission to Plus-I courses, the Chief Minister said that transparency in admission, however, was the gain from the system.
To a question on the Centre-State relations in the wake of change of guard at the Centre, the Chief Minister said that the very strength of the federal system was a “strong Centre and satisfied states”.
On the Mullaperiyar dam’s safety, Chandy said that under normal circumstances, the experts’ opinion that the dam was safe might be true. But the State Government and the local people are apprehensive about the safety of the dam in the event of some unexpected things happening.
The Chief Minister said that the government would not file an appeal against the Green Tribunal’s order cancelling the sanction accorded to the Aranmula airport project. However, he said, if the private company gets a favourable verdict from the apex court, the government will do whatever is needed.
The Chief Minister said that he could not agree to the violence unleashed in the name of campus politics.
Chandy said that the government would extend the ‘She Taxi’ project started in Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi to other cities.
Institute of Parliamentary Affairs director- general T Varghese and consultant James Joseph were also present on the occasion.