KOLLAM: SNDP General Secretary Vellappally Natesan has lashed out at the Left government in the state over the appointment of the Vice-Chancellor to the Sree Narayana Guru open university. The criticism by Vellappally, who has a close association with the Left, has put the government on the defensive.
Speaking to the media in Kollam on Friday, Vellappally alleged that the government sidelined the Sree Narayana community. "This government has repeated the practice of ousting the backward classes from power," said Vellappally, accusing the government of cheating the Ezhava community.
The SNDP general secretary also pointed out that the government turned the whole inaugural function of the Sree Narayana Guru Open University into a political event. Not even a single office-bearer of the SNDP was invited to the ceremony.
"The appointment of the Vice Chancellor has tarnished the government's image. Not even one person from the 'Sreenarayaneeya' community was considered for the post of Vice-Chancellor of the University and a Malabar NRI was appointed upon the insistence of minister for higher education KT Jaleel," said Vellappally.
He alleged that the minister was adamant in appointing an expatriate from Malabar. There is no need to go deep to realise the true sentiments of the Higher Education Minister, he added.
Vellappally pointed out that such a thing should not have happened at a time when a party which adopted the renaissance as its slogan is on power. The Left should not have stooped too low when organised religious forces and minorities mounted their pressure on them, he added.
The SNDP general secretary came forward with the criticism after the government decided to appoint the Vice Chancellor to the Sree Narayana Open University without consulting the SNDP. The SNDP demanded that one of its members be appointed as the head of the open university, headquartered in Kollam.
On Wednesday, the cabinet decided to appoint Mubarak Pasha as the first Vice-Chancellor of Sree Narayana Guru Open University. Pasha is a former director of Calicut University's Distance Education wing. He is presently Head of Governance and Strategic Planning at the Oman-based National University of Science and Technology.