One Samajwadi leader proposes, another disposes

Lucknow, Dec 22: Should legislators have a special quota for allowing or recommending admission of students in state-run polytechnic colleges and industrial training institutes (ITIs) ?
The vexed question was asked by Samajwadi Party’s Manoj Kumar Pandey on Thursday in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly created a piquant situation in his party itself.
While pointing out that just as members of Parliament enjoy special quota facility for admission of students in Kendriya Vidyalaya, Pandey sought to know from the government whether it would allow a special quota for MLAs to recommend admission of students in state-run polytechnic colleges and ITIs.
Pandey’s question drew a note of dissent from the Samajwadi Party itself as senior leader Mohammad Azam Khan said he was not in favour of such a practice. “This will affect the quality of education. You cannot expect a third divisioner to become one-day principal of a technical institution,” he remarked.
Azam Khan, however, suggested that legislators should be given the right to recommend admission of meritorious students.
However, leader of Opposition Ram Govind Chaudhary (SP) backed Pandey’s suggestion by saying that if members of Parliament were given special quota for recommending admission of students in Kendriya Vidyalaya, why can’t the government do the same for MLAs in Uttar Pradesh.
While youth, sports and skill development minister Chetan Chauhan rejected the idea, parliamentary affairs minister Suresh Khanna pointed out that the government was in no position to take any such decision that could affect the quality of education. UNI