THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan informed the assembly on Thursday that the state government would approach the Supreme Court against the High Court order nullifying the minority scholarship ratio fixed by the state government, based on the Paloli Commission report.“The state has decided to approach the apex court based on legal advice,” the CM said while replying to the discussion of demand for grants in the assembly.
The state introduced a new formula for minority scholarship based on the HC order last week. Flaying attempts to create confusion in the issue, Pinarayi said there is no need to kick up a row over the minority scholarship issue as no one will lose any benefits they are being offered and those who have raised complaints will get their share in proportion to the population. The government devised the formula by allocating an additional amount of ` 6.2 crore for the annual scholarship.
Earlier, participating in the discussion, Opposition Leader V D Satheesan said that the state government should not use the minority scholarship issue to create a rift between religions. The Sachar and Paloli committees had given the same recommendations with regard to minority scholarship. The state government should implement a new scheme considering their recommendations too, he said. Satheesan alleged that by not availing of Central grants, the state lapsed 17,000 pre-matric scholarships which provide big amounts to students.
“If one state fails to allot sanctioned scholarships, another state will get it. Now, Uttar Pradesh will get the scholarship we have lapsed,” he said.Criticising the state’s Covid management strategy, Satheesan said the government didn’t welcome constructive criticism about its Covid strategy. “The opposition will not blame the government over the number of deaths due to Covid as it has certain limitations. But the government should bring transparency in all matters related to Covid,” he said. He also criticised the state government for transferring the woman employee who gave vital information regarding the tree felling row and cancelling her good service entry.