Wednesday, 26 March 2025: A wrap of news and developments in Kerala— State minister’s US trip denied; Shashi Tharoor criticizes delayed policy shift on private universities by the government.
Published Mar 26, 2025 | 2:07 PM ⚊ Updated Mar 26, 2025 | 2:07 PM
Kerala Law, Industries and Coir Minister P Rajeeve. (Wikimedia)
Synopsis: In Wednesday’s news wrap of Kerala — The Union government denied Kerala Industries Minister P Rajeev permission to attend a summit in Washington, D.C., despite an invitation to showcase Kerala’s achievements. Meanwhile, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor criticised the Kerala government’s delayed shift on private universities following the passage of the Kerala State Private Universities Bill, 2025, accusing the Left of being stuck in outdated ideologies.
The Union Government has denied permission for Kerala Industries Minister P Rajeev to travel to the United States to attend a summit organised by the American Society of Public Administration in Washington, DC, from 28 March to 1 April.
The minister, who planned to travel to the US after attending Joseph Mar Gregorios’s ordination in Lebanon, expressed disappointment over the decision, stating that it was a lost opportunity to showcase Kerala’s achievements. He also confirmed that his research thesis for the summit would now be presented online.
Four other Kerala government representatives, including the Industries Department Principal Secretary and the KSIDC Managing Director, had also sought permission for the trip.
However, reports suggest that the Ministry of External Affairs took a stand against ministerial-level participation in the event. The Centre has not officially disclosed the reason for denying the request.
In December 2024, the American Society of Public Administration awarded Kerala’s Year of Entrepreneurship (YoE) project the title Innovation in Public Administration.
It was then that the organisation invited Rajeev to make a presentation on the project at the society’s annual conference, which will be held in Washington from 28 March to 1 April.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday, 26 March, took a dig at Kerala’s ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) over its delayed policy shift on private universities, remarking that the decision came “15 to 20 years late.”
His criticism followed the Kerala Assembly’s passage of the Kerala State Private Universities (Establishment and Regulation) Bill, 2025, on Tuesday, which permits private universities in the state for the first time.
In a post on X, Tharoor accused the Left of being stuck in a “19th-century ideology” and lagging in embracing progress.
“It took them years to realise that the real beneficiary of these changes was the common man, for whom they claimed to speak. I’m sure they will one day finally enter the 21st century, but it may only be in the 22nd!” he wrote.
The bill marks a major policy reversal for the CPI(M)-led government, which had long opposed the privatisation of education.
The CPI(M) and its student wing, the SFI, had strongly resisted private and foreign universities, even leading to an infamous attack on former Higher Education Council Vice-Chairman TP Sreenivasan during a 2016 conclave.
Despite criticism, the LDF defends the move, arguing that private universities can complement the state’s higher education sector under strict regulations.
