Even as a delegation of Tamil National Alliance, an unregistered umbrella organisation touring India as a representative of Tamils in Sri lanka, plead with the Indian Government to pressurise the Sri lankan Government to devolve more autonomy and power to them to administer the Northern Provincial Council, moderate Tamils in the island nation request political parties in Tamil Nadu to keep off their internal affairs.
“It is ridiculous to see political party leaders who have not bothered to visit Sri lanka even once exhorting the Indian Government and other global countries about our sufferings. If they have got any kindness for us, they should help our young generation to get better education in Tamil Nadu,” V Thevaraj, Editor, Veerakesari, a leading Tamil daily in Sri lanka told The Pioneer.
He pointed out that Tamil students who fail to get admission in Sri lanka’s institutions of higher education because of their Tamil background could be accommodated in colleges in Sri lanka. “There is no reservation system in Sri lanka and hence it is difficult for Tamil students to go for higher education,” said Thevaraj who completed his post graduation from Mysore University. “We understand that there are no takers for seats in many colleges in Tamil Nadu. Some of these seats could be set apart for Tamil students from Sri lanka,” said Thevaraj.
Ramiah Yograjan, Member of Parliament belonging to the Opposition United National Party and an engineer by training (he passed out from Regional Engineering College, Kozhikode in 1974), said that there were no takers for nearly 1,00,000 engineering seats in Tamil Nadu for the academic year 2014 to 2015. “Instead of surrendering these seats, some 500 or so Tamil students could be given admission in engineering colleges in Tamil Nadu,” said Yogarajan.
Prof AJS Ranjit Singh, principal, Parama Kalyani College of Arts and Science, Tirunelveli, fully agreed with the suggestions made by Yogarajan and Thevaraj. “We can offer even graduate and post graduate courses for Tamil students from the island nation here in Tamil Nadu. It may not require any serious legislation other than a permission from the Centre regarding the emigration and visa formalities. We can train the Tamil youth to be good citizens and they will in return emerge as entrepreneurs providing livelihood to hundreds of thousands of citizens in the island nation,” said Prof Singh.
According to figures released by the Tamil Nadu Government, there were no takers for 1,02,510 engineering college seats in 2014. last year the figure stood at 79,303.