Thiruvananthapuram Thursday, September 4 : The Kerala Unit of CPI-M is in controversy after reports emerged that it refused permission to the former Kerala health minister K.K.Shailaja to receive the highly coveted Ramon Magsaysay award for 2022.According to the information made available, Shailaja was shortlisted by the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation for the 64th Magsaysay awards for her work to public health as the state received international recognition for its successful management of Nipah outbreaks and Covid pandemics during her time.
She was praised around the world for her leadership from the front in the fight against infectious diseases.
The foundation had confirmed with Shailaja at the last week of July 2022.
The foundation informed her via e-mail that she was shortlisted for the award and asked for the confirmation of her in acceptance of the award.As an elected Central Committee member of the CPI-M, Shailaja, informed the party’s leadership and, after extensive deliberations the CPI-M decided not to accept the award.
According to an influential leader of the CPI-M CPI-M is of the view that Shailaja was only doing the job entrusted by the party to her and there was no particular effort in the matter.The party believes that the decision to include Nipah and Covid-19 was a team effort and not the result of a single effort, and therefore the party advised Shailaja not to accept the award.
According to sources from the party according to party sources, according to sources, the CPI-M leadership has resisted the award because it was named after Ramon Magsaysay who had used an iron hand to slay Communist Guerillas in Philippines.The CPI-M is of the opinion that the award could be a backfire in the end for the party.
However , many party supporters in private acknowledge the fact that this was a lost chance for the party as it did with the Himalayan error of declining the offer of the post of Prime Minister to Jyoti Basu earlier.
In an interview with IANS Sajeev Thomas an CPI-M sympathiser as well as an entrepreneur from Kottayam said, “It is Pinarayi Vijayan who has scuttled the award given to Shailaja teacher.
He doesn’t want anyone in the spotlight apart from himself.The party in the future will be ashamed of this.”
It is important to note that the Ramon Magsaysay award is considered an Asian Nobel award and if she had accepted the award, she would have been the first Keralite woman to win the famous award.
India’s milkman Dr.Vargheese Kurien, Agriculture Scientist Dr.M.S.Swaminathan Journalist Editor B.G.Verghese and the illustrious Election Commissioner of India, T.N.Seshan were among the other Keralites who won the award in earlier times.
Even though CPI-M offers its own reasons to disallow permission, this denial is seen as a further decision by Pinarayi Vjayan to cut the wings of Shailaja who had a bigger-than-life image in the state, and was was highly popular.
She was not allowed to run for an extension of her term in the state government currently in place despite the fact that she was elected with an historic margin of 60,963 votes from the Mattanur district in Kannur district in the 2021 assembly elections.
Her margin of victory was the largest in the 2021 elections for the assembly in Kerala.
aal/uk
