Functionaries of a trust in memory of social reformer Ayyankali have accused Calicut University authorities of ignoring the interests of the Scheduled Castes even as the university is all set to launch study chairs named after him and B.R. Ambedkar.
K. Sivaraman and Velayudhan P. Moonniyur, president and general secretary, respectively, of Mahatma Ayyankali Cultural Educational Trust based in Tenhipalam, said the university Syndicate had given approval for their proposal to set up a study chair named after Dr. Ambedkar, chairman of the drafting committee of the Indian Constitution, in 2015. The university asked the trust to give away ₹25 lakh as corpus in 2016. The functionaries expressed their inability to pool in such a big amount and sought a relaxation. The Syndicate refused to accept the demand, alleged Mr. Sivaraman and Mr. Velayudhan, and was now using its own funds to set up these chairs.
They pointed out that the chairs named after writer Vaikom Muhammad Basheer and India’s first Education Minister Maulana Abul Kalam Azad set up by the university were almost defunct. The fate of the new chairs was also anyone’s guess, they said.
The university, meanwhile, is learnt to be going ahead with setting up these study chairs. Dr. Ambedkar Chair would be attached to the Department of Political Science and Ayyankali Chair would be part of the Department of History. A sum of ₹25 lakh each would be allocated for both. The authorities are claiming that they would strive to ensure the educational uplift of the oppressed classes. The launch is tentatively scheduled in January.
