Opposition backing medical bill is painful, says A K Antony

Thiruvananthapuram: Congress Working Committee member A.K. Antony has  disapproved of the Kerala Professional Colleges (Regulation of Admission in Medical Colleges) Bill unanimously passed by the state Assembly. “It is painful that the Opposition joined hands with the ruling party to pass the Bill which will help only the managements,” he told reporters here on Friday. “Many progressive bills had been passed by  the Assembly earlier.   The government should have found other ways to help the eligible students,”  said Mr Antony.

“I am not over-enthusiastic about the verdict of  the Supreme Court. This is only a stay order.  The ruling front and the Opposition should unite to end the threats and wrong practices of the managements,”  he  said. Earlier,  a section of the Congressmen had said that the party had lost a golden opportunity to pull down the government. Even the BJP was divided on the Bill with state president Kummanam Rajasekharan supporting it  and Mr V. Muraleedharan MP opposing it.

Mr Rajasekharan justified a  letter he had sent to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on behalf of the students of the medical colleges.  “I was approached by the students of  Kannur Medical College complaining  that they could not sit for the first-year MBBS examinations even after taking the model examinations. I only forwarded  their complaint  to the chief minister’s office,” he  said. “Just because I  sent a  representation  to the chief minister’s office, it  doesn’t mean that I supported the corruption that happened in connection with the admissions,” he said.