Legal protection for campus politics

Kerala Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said the Government was planning to give legal protection to lawful political activity in campuses. In one aspect it is good as there is now none to question the spite practices of some unscrupulous managements. For instance look at the anomaly in the fee collected as application money for lectureship in private colleges in Kerala. When one college demands Rs 750 per application form others collect Rs 500, Rs 300 etc. No uniformity could be seen in fee collected from students for various necessities. There is no effort from any corner to control capitation fee for admission and appointment. The fund collected for a lecture post is about Rs 15-30 lakhs whereas fee for a degree seat admission is Rs 3000-15000. Who will check these malpractices other than students? If students, politics is legalized this could be controlled a bit.

Nevertheless, the student leaders in politics, unaware of their duties and obligations most often curtail the freedom of learning of a lot of students. The classes are often obstructed by political outfits for trivial issues and most often smooth running of the college becomes a tough job. And that is why some able PTAs in schools and colleges succeeded in abandoning students’ politics. But it soon brought adverse effect. So while giving legal coverage politics in campuses, students who are not interested in politics should be given legal protection to pursue their learning without the interruption from political outfits.

Interesting aspect is there would be anarchy sponsored by managements if politics is banned in campuses and at the same time there would be more anarchy as that one witnessed in the past if students’ politics are legalized. Can’t we look for an intermediary path?

K A Solaman