Thiruvananthapuram: Governor Arif Mohammed Khan virtually indicted the Kerala government, declaring that nobody should be allowed to lower the reputation of the state in the field of education.
Khan was referring to the charges of corruption and nepotism by Higher Education minister KT Jaleel in the day to day functioning of universities, including the arbitrary revision of marks to help certain students.
The opposition parties led by Congress have been creating a ruckus over the conduct of the minister, whose name has been dragged into several instances of irregularities, including the appointment of relatives to various posts.
The governor indicated that he would do everything in his powers to ensure that Kerala regained its reputation. The state, with 100 percent literacy, had been known for the academic excellence of its institutions that, however, suffered serious hits during the tenure of Jaleel as minister.
Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala asked Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who is abroad on an official tour, to dismiss the minister straightaway and warned that if he tries to shield him any longer, it would be construed as an affront to the people of the state.
The Pinarayi government's tenure has seen consistent devaluation of various institutions by bending the rules to favour party loyalists and their family members.
There have been a number of instances of favoured people being allowed to rig public service commission examinations so that they get selected for government jobs.
Similarly, the minister's office has allegedly been involved in irregularities in awarding moderation marks in defiance of all accepted norms to help students belonging to Students Federation of India (SFI), the students wing of the CPI-M, and others who are close to the ruling dispensation.
The controversial minister once claimed openly that he would not allow the future of a student to be marred even if the sky comes down and threatened to repeat his action.
