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| Friday, 29 November 2002 |
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by Tharika Goonathilake In a move aimed at curbing violence in universities which had already claimed two students' lives new legislation will be introduced to cancel the Mahapola Scholarships of students involved in ragging and other anti-social activities within the campuses. The draft law will be presented in Parliament soon, Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs Ravi Karunanayake said yesterday. The Mahapola Fund is administered by the Commerce and Consumer Affairs Ministry. The Ministry is drafting new legislation which will cover specific ragging related activities and enable a tougher stance against those who use the university system and the scholarship opportunity to lobby support for political movements. Measures will also be taken to hold discussions with university heads and student groups to seek their cooperation in this endeavour. "These activities which disrupt the education of hundreds of students goes against the very concept of the Founder of the Mahapola Scholarship Scheme the late Minister Lalith Athulathmudali," Minister Karunanayake said. Over 90 per cent of students who enter the Universities are granted the scholarship. "The vision behind this Fund and the scholarships was to support students for their education and not to give them an incentive to commit murder and mayhem. These activities have disrupted the education of hundreds of students and claimed the life of a student who stood up for the rights of those who were being humiliated and victimised," the Minister said. The Mahapola Scholarship Scheme has so far awarded around 100,000 scholarship to students among the low income groups since its inception 23 years ago. The scholarship entails an allowance of Rs 1500 per month covering the three year period prior to graduation. |
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