KOCHI: Unleashing a scathing attack against the state government over the ‘mark donation’ row in MG University, Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala has demanded the chief minister to order a judicial inquiry after removing Higher Education Minister K T Jaleel from the post. “The chief minister should shed his silence over the issue and make it clear whether he would order the probe. The minister has not replied to the questions I have raised in connection with ‘mark donation’.
He is asking whether there is any evidence of the involvement of his private secretary Sharaffuddeen even after visual media released video footage showing him attending the adalat organised by MGU for hours after the inaugural session,” he said in Kochi on Thursday.
According to him, besides MGU, mark donation had occurred in Kerala Technical University and Kerala University of Health Sciences and the UDF will initiate legal steps against this nepotism and favouritism. Chennithala said the minister was repeating false statements day by day to conceal the truth. He urged the government to check whether the universities in the state are functioning in accordance with the norms.
‘Jaleel lacks knowledge of civil services selection’
In reply to the allegation levelled by Jaleel that Chennithala’s son secured first rank in the interview of civil services examinations because of ‘influence’, the opposition leader alleged that Jaleel did not even know the basic procedures for the selection of a candidate to the civil services. “If the minister does not know the selection procedure to civil services, he should ask Principal Secretary Usha Titus. Apart from this, he is involved in humiliating others,” he said.
“My son secured 210th rank after scoring a total of 1,034 marks by gaining 828 marks in written examinations and 206 marks in the personality test. Another student, Ferpa Serine, hailing from Arunachal Pradesh, secured 707 marks in the written test and also bagged the first rank in the personality test. From this, it is clear that Jaleel is stating a blunder,” he added.