Govt rejects Khalid Commission report *Pioneer News Service | Thiruvananthapuram
* http://dailypioneer.com/indexn12.asp?main_variable=KOCHI&file_name=KOCHI1%2Etxt&counter_img=1 The State Government has rejected the report tabled by Justice C Khalid Commission, which probed into the circumstances that led to the suicide of Rejani S Anand, a student of the IHRD College of Engineering, Adoor. Home Minister Kodeyeri Balakrishnan informed the State Assembly that there were certain inconsistencies in the report and hence the Government has decided to discard it. The report was tabled before the Assembly on Thursday. The Justice Khalid Commission had submitted the report with the Government on April 25, 2006. The death of the 22-year-old had its reverberations across Kerala and in the State Assembly which was in session. The Left Democratic Front had earlier expressed its apprehensions regarding the investigation. It was reported that the Left Front was not contented with the probe as the Commission did not consider all aspects associated with the suicide. Following this the Cabinet took the decision not to accept the report. It is reported that the Commission came to the conclusion that Rejani was the victim of the 'flawed' education policy that has created a situation in which professional education has been denied to the economically weaker sections of society. The report also identified the apathy shown by various Government departments as a reason for her suicide. The report lacked the authenticity of a judicial inquiry, the Government stated. Hence it did not want to proceed with the findings and observations in it. Rejani, a Computer Engineering student of the College of Engineering, Adoor, run by the Institute of Human Resource Development in Electronics, hailed from Vellarada in Thiruvananthapuram district. She committed suicide on April 22, 2004 by jumping from the seven-storied Housing Board building in Thiruvananthapuram, which also housed the Office of the Commissioner of Entrance Examinations. Rejani had to discontinue her studies owing to her inability to pay her tuition fees. Before committing suicide she had reportedly knocked every door, from that of the branch of a nationalised bank to that of local moneylenders, for help to continue her studies. But her requests fell on deaf years. On the death of Rejani, the Students Federation of India took up the issue and launched a State-wide demanding the then UDF Government to enforce its stringent control over the self-financing professional colleges. It also unleashed violent protests across Kerala demanding criminal action against those responsible for the suicide. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Ours is a battle not for wealth or for power. It is a battle for freedom. It is a battle for the reclamation of human personality." - Dr BR Ambedkar ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ greenyouth mailinglist is the activist support mailinglist for kerala run by Global Alternate Information Applications (GAIA) To post to this group, send email to [email protected] -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
