Metro rail for Kerala capital

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala's capital will soon have a Metro Rail system like Kochi's, the state's commercial capital, for which moves are already under way.

This was announced in the state assembly by Transport Minister Mathew T. Thomas in a written reply to K. Muhammadunni Haji of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML).

The minister said the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation which had been authorised to submit a feasibility report after a proper study on the project would submit the report to the government soon.

On the proposed Metro Rail project in Kochi, he said the government had already accepted the detailed feasibility report prepared by the same company. The report suggested that the 25-km-long rail to be implemented between Aluva and Ernakulam Petta would be like the elevated light metro system, he added.

Thomas said the Union Government had accepted in principle, the proposal to implement the Kochi Metro Rail project. As the project was still in the processing stage, the government could not say when the work of the project would start, the minister added.

Public Works Minister P. J. Joseph told the Assembly yesterday that the Express Highway Project was still in the consideration of the government. Earlier, the minister had stated that they would consider North-South Road instead of Express Highway.

It was former IUML minister M.K. Muneer of the previous United Democratic Front (UDF) who had put forward the project.

Meanwhile, on the National Minority Education Commission (NMEC) granting the minority status to certain professional colleges, Education Minister M.A. Baby said the commission had acted in haste, ignoring the government's plea for more time to decide on the issue. Replying to a submission by K.C. Venugopal of the Congress, in the House, Baby said the State Education Principal Secretary had talked to the NMEC Secretary on June 12 and sought more time for the new government to take a decision on the minority status issue. This was followed up with a fax message on June 14.

Minority status

However, instead of postponing the decision on applications for minority status from a few colleges, the NMEC advanced their decision while the State Government was in the process of enacting a legislation which also covered the minority status issue, he said.

The minister said it would be ensured that nobody got undue recognition in the name of minorities. "If NMEC was of the view that they could not grant more time to the government to fix minority status issue, they could have asked us to speed up our decision. Instead, they acted in haste," he said.

'Misrule'- Antony blamed for poll debacle

Former chief minister A.K. Antony came under fire from several speakers at a function held at Puthuppally, the stronghold of opposition leader Oommen Chandy, yesterday. They held Antony responsible for the recent State Assembly poll debacle of the Congress.

The party's defeat in the polls was due to Antony's "misrule"? they said.

The function was attended by Oommen Chandy, District Congress Committee (DCC) President Anto Antony and Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) Secretary Alfonse John. Oddly enough, none of them came to the rescue of Antony.

In the recent past Antony had come under fire for his role in the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) coming into an electoral understanding with the Democratic Indira Congress-Karunakran (DIC-K). He has been defending himself against this charge saying that he should not be singled out for the poll tie-up.