Govt vows to implement court ruling SAITM controversy
Posted on February 8th, 2017
by Zacki Jabbar Courtesy The Island
February 8, 2017, 10:15 pm
The government said yesterday that if the Medical Council refused to recognise MBBS graduates of the South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine in keeping with last week’s Appeal Court directive it would take legal measures to ensure implementation.
Higher Education and Highways Minister Lakshman Kiriella addressing the weekly Cabinet Press Briefing at the Parliamentary Complex, said that both the Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC) and the government could be hauled up for contempt of Court if the order was not followed.
“When I requested Chairman of the SLMC Professor Carlo Fonseka during a recent three hour meeting with him, to be fair and register the SAITM graduates, he gave a very evasive answer. It was due to this that the students sought legal action” Kiriella noted adding that the Chairman of South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine (SAITM), Dr. Neville Fernando had even offered to hand over the teaching hospital owned by him to the State, for it to be run as a public – private partnership, on the lines of Sri Jayawardenepura hospital.
A three judge bench of the Court of Appeal upholding an application by one of the first batch of 30 SAITM graduates challenging the SLMC’s refusal to register the students as medical practioners, ruled that the SLMC had exceeded the power conferred on it, without any legal basis.
The SLMC, the Court said was entitled to submit its recommendations, but in terms of the Medical Ordinance, its role ended there, as the Subject Minister was empowered with regard to implementation.
Minister Kiriella responding to a question said that permitting institutions such as SAITM to function, did not mean that the government would not provide free eduction as alleged by a section of the Opposition.”It was the UNP that introduced free education. We will ensure that it be continued for the benefit of the masses.”
February 8th, 2017 at 6:49 pm
Very good. Thank you minister.
SLMC must not end up going against the court order.
February 9th, 2017 at 2:50 am
Christie Says:
February 9th, 2017 at 2:42 am
මේ දොස්තර ස්කෝලෙ ඉන්දියානු පරපෝසිත ලනුවක් තිබුනනම් ඔය බෙරිහන්දෙන උන්ගෙ කටේ වඩේ පිරිල.
දැන් මුන් ඉන්දියානු පරපෝසිතයගෙන් සමාජ වඩේ කාල බෙරිහන් දෙනව.
ඇද අන්තර ජාතික ඉන්ගිරිසියෙන් උගන්වන ස්කෝලවල මැදපෙරදිග වැඩකරන අයගෙ ලමයි කොච්චර ඉන්නවද?
සයිටම් විරෝදීන්ගේ මොලයත් මුදලුත් යැපෙන්නෙ ඉන්දියානු පරපෝසිතයගෙන්
February 9th, 2017 at 3:26 am
Christie Says:
February 9th, 2017 at 2:56 am
Christie Says:
February 9th, 2017 at 2:42 am
මේ දොස්තර ස්කෝලෙ ඉන්දියානු පරපෝසිත ලනුවක් තිබුනනම් ඔය බෙරිහන්දෙන උන්ගෙ කටේ වඩේ පිරිල.
දැන් මුන් ඉන්දියානු පරපෝසිතයගෙන් සමාජ වඩේ කාල බෙරිහන් දෙනව.
ඇද අන්තර ජාතික ඉන්ගිරිසියෙන් උගන්වන ස්කෝලවල මැදපෙරදිග වැඩකරන අයගෙ ලමයි කොච්චර ඉන්නවද?
සයිටම් විරෝදීන්ගේ මොලයත් මුදලුත් යැපෙන්නෙ ඉන්දියානු පරපෝසිතයගෙන්.
ආ! ඔය පෙරටුගාමී කියන මිනීමරුව ඉන්දියානු අදිරදය වෙනුවෙන් විජේවීර බලාගත්ත ගොයියද?
දොස්තරයෙක් වෙන්න සල්ලි ගෙවල ඉගෙන ගත්තම මොකද?
බාස් කෙනෙක් වෙන්න ලන්ඩන් සිටි ඇන්ඩ් ගිල්ඩ්ස් ආයතනය හරියක් දාන කාර්මික ස්කෝලෙක සල්ලි ගෙවල ඉන්ගිසියෙන් ඉගෙන ගන්න අය ගැන කිසිම සද්දයක් නැත.
ඒ බාස්ලට සහතිකේ ගන්න ඉස්සර පිටරට රස්සාවල්.
We are brain washed by the Indian Imperialists and Indian colonial parasites and we play in to their hands.
February 9th, 2017 at 3:03 pm
Standards must be monitored in all institutions of Higher Learning in Sri Lanka and integrity maintained at every level.
In the Universities of Sri Lanka, in the past, we have seen that exams have been tampered with to favor various minorities, particularly in the Science subjects at the Colombo Campus.
This has happened even in the Law College of Lanka.
In Sri Lanka, Co-operation rather than Competition between institutions of higher learning ought to be encouraged.
GoSL ought to reward such Co-operation which can deliver the best Services for the entire country and the rewards also accessed by the professionals who have qualified, doctors and others.