1) Everyone in Kerala knows the contribution from Christian managed institutions to the state. They operate even in the remotest areas of the state, and it is not simply true if somebody says that they operate just for money. So, when the leaders of the government say something, they have to respectful, even if they disagree with things. I do not see the respect that is due to the Christian leaders when they talk, or for that matter even when you talked. To call them "panakkothiyanmar" is very unbecoming of any responsible person.
2) Recent noices from the christian community was not just because of the unaided professional college issue. It was also because of the suggestions that the government is going to transfer the management of aided schools to the local bodies. We all know how corrupted our political system is. I, as a citizen aware of the political situation here, just cannot think of our schools being managed by the local bodies. Also, it is important for any society to have people thinking in different moralities to come up. Nowhere in the world, anywhere in the history, a country has come good if only a single viewpoint was cultivated in children. There has to be diversities, and thats what holds democracy together. We live in democracy, and for it to be preserved, different streams of thought should be encouraged. Government's intervention in the management of schools kills this democratic principle. I do not see any reason why the power of aided school's management to be transferred to the local bodies. This is just an attempt to politicize our education, and that is a double edged sword. It is going to destroy our primary/secondary education system, and it is going to create a generation with single-mindedness of thought.
3) Now, coming to the unaided professional colleges issue: first of all, everyone has to understand that IT IS THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA that has given authority to the private managements to run the colleges as they want. If you want to fight somebody, first you have to fight the Supreme Court and the Constitution. Not the Christian Bishops. That is how things work in any democracy. Just because we believe that we are right about social justice, we cannot force our decisions on others. It might work in China, but not in India. And it is good for India. The private managements have every right to do anything that the law permits them to do.
4) Having said that, of course, as people living in this country, we have a responsibility to each other to go beyond the law. Agreed. If the government want the management to go beyond the law, then they should talk them into doing things, not just abuse them in public.
5) I wonder anybody has really thought over the side of the managements. They should be listened to, dont they have the right for it? Let us not proclaim ourselves as the sole people with the mindset to help poor, and think that everyone who is not a communist is against the poor. Let us keep that hypocrisy away and just check some facts:
i) Goverment asks for two different fee structures. One for goverment seats, another for management seats. Everybody knows here as a matter of fact that the top positions in the goverment list always go to the rich people who have access to the modern entrace coaching facilities. So, what the govermnet essentially is asking: subsidize the rich from the other communities using the money from the rich in your community. I am not sure what is the big social justice in that. Instead, if the government had agreed for subsidizing the poor, by establishing a scholarship from the money of the rich from the goverment quota as well as management quota, and fix the same fees for all the seats, this whole thing would have been easily resolved. It was a fault from the govermnet. They were adamant. It is time we accept that.
ii) As per the contract between goverment and the other private engineering colleges, the fees is fixed as 67000. The institutions under Christian management have fixed the fees as 50000. Who is after the money?
iii) The christian management has taken both Plus-two as well as the entrace exam as the criteria for entrace. This is a big step forward in including hte poor students who are brilliant, but not able to access the coaching methods available for rich people. Why the govermnet cannot take this kind of progressive step if they are really interested in justice in education?
iv) The christian managements have provision to teach 10 students without any fees, those who are below the poverty line. Which goverment institution does that?
In short, the goverment says they are for social justice, but does nothing for that. I have studied in a Christian management institution with paying almost nothing, and if most of you think honestly, you also know that the steps taken by the Christian community in the field of education in Kerala is second to none. It is very sad that such a community is accused of something that they do not practice.
It is time for many of us to revisit the matter and correct ourselves. Nothing wrong with making a mistake. But it is wrong to keep holding onto that mistake.
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-Keralite, New York, USA
