THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:The controversial bill regularising the admissions made to the Karuna and Kannur medical colleges is awaiting the nod of Governor
P Sathasivam for final approval.
Additional chief secretary (health)
Rajeev Sadanandan gave the approval for the bill and was sent to the law department on Friday morning. Sources said that law secretary B G Hareendranath gave his nod and the bill was sent to the chief minister’s office by evening.
Later in the evening the bill was forwarded to the governor’s office for his signature. The government is sceptical about the governor giving nod to the bill since the
Supreme Court has already stayed the ordinance brought out by the government.
Sources said that based on the SC verdict, the governor has started taking legal opinion on whether to give the approval for the bill or not. The governor’s decision will be crucial since the case is again coming up for hearing before the SC on May 8.
However, Balan claimed that there was nothing wrong in the assembly passing the bill. “If there was any issue in the bill, then the governor would not have signed the ordinance. He did not point out any concern over the ordinance, which was why the government could pass the bill with the support of all political parties in the assembly,” the minister said.
He said that the bill is technically, politically and legally correct and hence the governor will sign it. The SC verdict should not be considered as a setback for the government, he added.
Meanwhile, senior
Congress leader
A K Antony has disowned his party’s state leaders by flaying the decision of the government and the UDF to support the medical college admission bill in the assembly.
“The assembly has the history of passing several progressive bills. The beneficiary of this bill is only the private management. The government and the UDF should join hands to fight against the illegal acts of the private college managements and come out with a legislation to control them,” Antony told reporters here on Friday.
Antony said that it was most unfortunate that the bill was passed by the assembly. “If the government wanted to protect the most deserving students, then they could have explored other ways for it. This was not the proper way,” he said.
Meanwhile, a delegation of the
BJP led by MLA O Rajagopal will meet governor P Sathasivam on Saturday to urge him not to sign the bill. Former
KPCC president V M Sudheeran has already written to the governor, requesting him not to sign the bill.
