Kerala church leaders meet Sonia against Professional Colleges Act

New Delhi, Jul 11 (UNI) A four-member delegation of senior church leaders from Kerala today met UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and submitted a memorandum against attempts by the state government to seek help in including the Kerala Professional Colleges Act in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution.

The delegation, which include Thrissur Archbishop Mar Andrews Thazhath, Kollam Bishop Dr Stanley Roman and Inter-Church Council for Education Secretary Philip Najralackatt, is expected to meet President APJ Abdul Kalam and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh tomorrow.

''We have requested for meetings with the President and the Prime Minister tomorrow,'' said Rev. Najralackatt.

According to the memorandum, some provisions of the Act dealing with the religious and linguistic minorities violate the fundamental rights of the minorities.

Section 8 of the Act that empowers the State to grant recognition and minority status to institutions established and administered by the minorities is a violation of the fundamental rights of the minorities, the memorandum said.

Another provision, which says that a minority unaided professional college or institution should admit not less than 50 per cent of the students from within the state from the minority community to which the college or institution belongs, is also a violation of the Constitution, it added.

While in some areas where the Christian population is sizeable, in some other areas it is not scanty, therefore on both counts, the minority educational institutions in such areas could lose minority status, the memorandum said.

Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan had met Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh on July 7 for including the Act in the Ninth Schedule.

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