Mani accuses Left of being against Education Bill

New Delhi, July 7 (UNI) Congress (M) leader K M Mani today accused the Left leaders of being against the public opinion on the provisions in the Professional Colleges Act, saying they were against minority rights.

Talking to reporters here, Mr Mani said while the United Democratic Front (UDF) was not against the spirit of the Act, they were opposed to certain provisions in Clause 8 according to which the minority status of the institutions need to be determined.

''The number of institutions belonging to the minorities should be less than that of majority so as to be included in the minority status list.

Another condition laid down is that a minimum 50 per cent students belonging to the minority community should be enrolled in the institution for it to get the status.

''These conditions in the Act are a gross violation of the Constitution and will lead to divisiveness,'' Mr Mani said.

The former Kerala Revenue Minister said the UDF was not against reforms proposed in the Act but to be included in the concurrent list, it was necessary to get the President's green signal.

He urged the government to rectify these ommissions.

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