Breaking his silence about the proposed division of Bangalore University, Governor and Chancellor H.R. Bhardwaj has stunned stakeholders by refusing to approve the creation of the DVG Jnanavahini University.
The Bill proposing Bangalore University’s bifurcation, passed earlier this year, has been pending the Governor’s approval along with the Karnataka State Universities (Second Amendment) Bill, 2013. The Chancellor, however, had approved the Bills to establish private universities.
The previous government had executed the long-pending proposal of dividing one of the largest universities in the country (with over 600 affiliate colleges) and appointed University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering (UVCE) principal K.R. Venugopal as the special officer for the new university. With its main campus in Hoskote, the new university is to cover one taluk (north) of Bangalore Urban district, three taluks (Hoskote, Devanahalli and Doddaballapur) of Bangalore Rural district and Chickballapur and Kolar districts.
Speaking to reporters along the sidelines of the convocation of the Karnataka Samskrit University here Friday, Mr. Bhardwaj even questioned the idea behind carving out a new university. “Why should it be bifurcated? Bangalore University is one of the most important in Karnataka alongside Mysore and Dharwad. I will not agree to it. I don’t understand the philosophy behind it.”
Continuing to lash out at the previous Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) regime, he said: “We have to ensure that we retain whatever Karnataka has inherited. Bangalore University is doing well. Breaking it into two will divide resources and destroy its structure. I feel it is not in the interest of the university.”
Criticising the BJP government for “only making legislations and little practical work,” he did not even spare the Karnataka Sanskrit University, saying it had seen little development in the last three years. “They don’t even have a place of their own for their convocation. Education has become directionless.”
Education panel
The Chancellor even questioned the need for a body such as the Karnataka State Higher Education Council (KSHEC), terming it a “controversial body started by the late (Higher Education Minister) V.S. Acharya.” “Instead, the government can make use of the talent pool in our universities.”
Convocation
As many as 460 students received their degrees at the convocation. Registrar Y.S. Siddegowda said the government has allotted 100 acres of free land to the university in Thippasandra near Kunigal Road.
