Kerala Women's Commission member's education qualification to be probed

Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 6 The Kerala Lok Ayukta will on October 5 examine a petition filed before them regarding the educational qualification of Shahida Kamal, a member of the Kerala Women's Commission (KWC).

The complainant, also a woman hailing from the capital city, decided to approach the Lok Ayukta after her complaint against Kamal given to the Kerala Police and the State government has not been acted upon.

Kamal claims to have a PhD, but in a TV channel debate that took place a few months back, the complainant pointed out that Kamal's educational qualifications were not correct.

Soon after trouble broke out over her educational qualifications, she through her Facebook page mentioned that she took her D.Litt from the International Open University and all those who have received it use the word Dr before their names.

Incidentally, Kamal was a Congress leader and had contested the 2009 Lok Sabha poll from Kasargode and also the 2011 Assembly elections on a Congress ticket.

But, upset with the Congress for not giving her a safe seat, she quit the party a few years later and joined the CPI-M and they rewarded her by making her a member of the KWC, which comes with good perks.

Meanwhile, the CPI-M leadership is reported to be unhappy over this episode.