The House committee, which has been formed to look into the Karnataka State Universities Bill, 2017, is planning to include private and deemed universities across the State under the State government’s purview for monitoring “certain” aspects. The committee is yet to finalise what aspects it will oversee. Currently, only State-run universities come under the Bill.
A family feud between the two brothers in Alliance University — a seven-year-old private university — affecting thousands of students, prompted the government to amend the Act of this university allowing officials greater control to address such grievances. However, a source pointed out that the committee had decided to include certain aspects to govern private and deemed universities under this Bill. “Although deemed universities come under the control of the University Grants Commission, we will seek legal opinion on how we can govern them,” a source said.
The committee members also unanimously agreed to keep Kannada University, Hampi, outside the ambit of this Bill as it is a research-oriented university. Several Kannada authors had said its inclusion would jeopardise the purpose for which it was established.
Several members raised concerns that the powers of the Governor, who is also the Chancellor of universities, were being snatched away through this Bill. They also opposed the decision to form a recruitment board that would look into staff hirings for State-run universities. The committee said there was a need for nputs from various stakeholders including lecturers, former V-Cs, student organisations, syndicate members, and other academicians regarding this Bill.
