Thrissur: Institutions that get public funds are under the control of the government and they do not have any special powers, clarified Kerala Minister for Fisheries, Culture & Youth Affairs Saji Cherian. He was reacting to a Manorama report stating that the Kerala Government had issued an order to control establishments under the Department of Culture.
The Minister also said that the order was passed with the intention of ensuring that the institutions did not go against the policies of the government and asked what was wrong with such an action.
The government was sanctioning funds for panchayats and they do not have autonomy. The academies too fall in the same category, the minister said.
Establishments that obtain government funds should inform it of their activities. This is the prevailing law, he stated, while adding the recent only intended to remind the persons concerned of this fact and that the directive did not bring about a new law.
The intention of the government was to improve the functioning of the institutions. Since government representatives were members of the committees of these institutions, it was not wrong to make it mandatory that their convenience for attending the meetings should be taken into account before conducting such events.
When asked why the minutes of the committee meetings in which the representatives of the government take part should be sent to it for approval, the Minister replied, “They could err since they are human beings. The order was issued to ensure that their mistakes do not affect the government”. Such a step will avert faux pas like the government emblem appearing in a Sahitya Akademi publication, he said.
Satchidanandan defends order
Meanwhile, the Kerala Sahitya Akademi President, K Satchidanandan, has said that there was nothing new in the order issued by the Culture Department pertaining to the activities of institutions under it. Such orders are passed from time to time. This has happened during the regime of the United Democratic Front too.
He also claimed that the activities of the Akademi were not decided by the government nor was its permission sought for any of its programmes.
Revoke order: K C Joseph
Kottayam: K C Joseph, former Minister for Culture, has said that the government order that imperils at the autonomy of establishments under the Department of Culture should be withdrawn.
The order would result in these institutions losing their autonomy. He alleged that the government at the Centre and the Pinarayi regime were competing with each other to erode the autonomy of institutions.
