KOZHIKODE: The Malabar Christian College in the heart of the city would be the venue for the state school Yuvajanotsav scheduled to begin on January 15.
Ending the confusion and raging controversy, the decision was taken at a high-level meeting of people’s representatives, education officials and teachers’ organisations held here on Saturday.
Though the venue falls in the Kozhikode North constituency of Mr A. Pradeep Kumar MLA, he refused to take over the organizing committee chairmanship due to the earlier controversies.
In the meeting, he insisted that the lone minister from the district M.K. Muneer should be the chairman, which Mr Muneer also refused.
The meeting unanimously selected Mayor A.K. Premajam as the chairperson of the organizing committee. Mr Muneer will be the patron of the committee whereas Mr Pradeep Kumar would head the programme committee.
It may be recalled that the conflict over selecting the venue worsened when two camps started mudslinging at each other.
Education Minister Abdu Rabb had earlier declared the Mananchira ground as the venue of the youth festival which invited wide criticism.
The LDF had alleged that the IUML leadership arbitrarily decided the venue to ensure the chairmanship of the organizing committee for Mr Muneer, minister for social welfare.
The chairperson of the youth fest organizing committee has been traditionally the legislative member of the constituency in which the venue is located.
Though the opposition camp suggested Swapna Nagari as the venue which falls in the constituency of Mr Pradeep Kumar, Mr Muneer opposed the idea hinting at safety reasons as the zone is crisscrossed by Connolly Canal.
