Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Wednesday severely criticised the recent High Court verdict invalidating the allotment by the Government of new higher secondary schools and fresh Plus-II batches by overcoming the recommendations of the Higher Secondary Director, an issue that had triggered a political storm following allegations of corruption.
“If all that is to be done is to approve whatever list of recommendations the Higher Secondary Director is giving, why should there be a democratic GovernmentIJ” Chandy asked while talking to mediapersons after a Cabinet meeting which decided to appeal against Monday’s court order scrapping new Plus-II batches that had not been recommended by the HS Director.
Chandy said that the court’s order on Tuesday for issuance of notice to a Cabinet sub-committee on Plus II batch allotment — for not allotting a batch to a school in Perikkallur, Wayanad despite having all facilities — would create wrong precedent. He also said that if notice had to be served on anybody it should have been served on him and not on the sub-committee.
The Cabinet meeting decided to file an appeal on Thursday itself in a division bench arguing that Monday’s order of the single-judge bench effectively denied the students’ fundamental right to education. The Cabinet gave necessary instructions to the Secretary, Public Education, and the Higher Secondary Director by calling them to the meeting.
The Government would argue before the division bench that regional demands could not be neglected while allotting Plus-II schools and batches and that additional batches and schools were allotted in accordance with the demands from the concerned regions. It would also inform the court that allotments could not be made merely on the basis of officials’ reports.
The Government had last month sanctioned 131 new schools in panchayats with no higher secondary schools of which majority — 88 schools — were in the aided management sector while only 43 were in the Government sector. Apart from this, the Government also allotted additional 411 additional Plus-II batches, causing allegations of corruption.
The Cabinet also cancelled the Higher Secondary Director's Tuesday order halting admissions to the additionally allotted Plus-II batches and schools. As per the Cabinet decision, admissions would continue in batches that had not been found illegal by the court and admissions to the other batches would be subject to the court's decision on the appeal to be filed.