THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The celebration of 50 years of formation of Science, Technology and Environment Committee (STEC), the apex body for making science and technology policy in the state, was marred by a controversy over the neglect of former chief minister C Achutha Menon, the visionary who was instrumental in starting a number of institutions and development projects in the state. Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment (KSCSTE) which succeeded STEC, celebrated the golden jubilee year with a week-long programme that culminated on May 29.
A section of people including those associated with the C Achutha Menon Foundation complained that the programme did not give its due to Menon. They pointed out that the organisers forgot to mention the name of Menon in the invite, brochure and in the programmes. “The function is organised with the realisation that it is an important body. So no harm in mentioning the person behind the start,” said a top academician in the state.
The critics see it as a larger agenda to obliterate the contributions of Menon, a CPI leader who ruled the state on two consecutive terms from 1969 to 1977. “Achutha Menon was a visionary who laid the foundation for several institutions. People before him and after him could not contemplate such institutions. There is an attempt to ignore him,” said N Shanmughom Pillai of Achutha Menon Foundation.
The state became the first in the country to form a STEC in May 29, 1972, even before the country had a science and technology department. Achutha Menon started these institutions when the concept of autonomous institutions under the government was a relatively new concept.
KSCSTE has a state council headed by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, and an executive council chaired by the executive vice-president, who is also the ex-officio principal secretary of Science & Technology Department.
K P Sudheer, executive vice-president, KSCSTE, told TNIE that the allegations were baseless. “We do not have any existence if we forget Achutha Menon. We are only taking forward his vision, with some additions on the way. We will keep a profile of all people involved in the compendium to be released later,” said Sudheer. The release of the compendium has been kept pending and KSCSTE plans to conduct the culmination of golden jubilee celebration on the sidelines of the Science Congress in 2023.
‘Ex-CM didn’t get his due’
lA section of people including those associated with the C Achutha Menon Foundation complained that the programme did not give its due to Menon.