THRISSUR: Thrissur Archbishop and KCBC secretary Andrews Thazhath said that the Church would not yield to pressure tactics by the State Government and Calicut University.
Inaugurating a joint meeting of the pastoral councils, trustees and faithful of Thrissur Archdiocese and Irinjalakuda diocese held here on Tuesday to protest against the non-renewal of affiliations of four selffinancing professional colleges run by the Church by Calicut University, he said that the Government and Calicut University were harassing the colleges run by the Church to force these colleges to sign the agreement providing 50 percent seats to Government and the other 50 percent to managements.
Thazhath said that the Church would not agree to the 50:50 condition because it would deny social justice to students belonging to the middle class and poor families. He pointed out that it would amount to subsidising the education of students belonging to rich families by the students belonging to middle class and poor families.
He said under the Government quota students are admitted from the rank list of entrance examination conducted by the State Government and they would be charged only a nominal fee, necessitating the institutions to levy very high fee on students admitted under the management quota. He said that majority of these students belong to the rich families and if the 50:50 quota agreement is agreed upon, it would in real terms lead to subsidising the education of the rich by the poor. He said that the agreement would also force the minority community to forgo the minority rights enshrined in the Constitution.
The archbishop said that the Church would intensify agitation against the harassment of institutions run by the Church by the State Government and Calicut University.
He said that as the first phase of agitation, a dharna would be held in front of the Collectorate here on June 27.
Bishop of Irinjalakuda Mar James Pazhayattil, Bishop Pastor Neelamkavil, Fr Jose Irimpen, Fr Francis Kurissery and administrators of the four self-financing professional colleges also spoke. Senior Vicar General Raphael Thattil welcomed the gathering and Vicar General Raphael Vadakkan proposed a vote of thanks.