‘State govt unwilling on autonomy for minority institutions’

The state’s minority institutions have complained to the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions (NCMEI), that they are being denied no-objection certificates from the state government.

This is what Vasanthi Stanley, member of NCMEI, told The Indian Express on Thursday after a meeting with the representatives of Christian minority institutions.

The NOCs are a pre-requisite for an institution to be affiliated with the Central boards of education - CBSE and ICSE.

According to Bangiya Christiyo Pariseba (BCP), an umbrella organisation of the state’s Christian minority institutions, there are about 100 institutions waiting for an NOC.

These have now approached the NCMEI and also the state’s Backward Class Social Welfare Department. Stanley said last year, the NCMEI received demands for NOCs from about 1,500 minority institutions of the country. After Kerala, the second highest number of demands came from West Bengal.

The NCMEI, a quasi-judicial body set up by an Act of Parliament, has adjudicatory, advisory and recommending powers. It also has the power to issue NOCs if the state government delays an application beyond 90 days.

“The BCP will meet members of the NCMEI on February 25 to raise the issue and urge its intervention,” said Herod Mullick, secretary of BCP.

The organisation has also sought the help of the commission to deal with the issue of autonomy in the appointment of teachers in Christian minority institutions in the state.

Mullick added, “We will talk to the school education department again and the commission so the issue can be reconsidered”.