Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy on Tuesday said the State government is considering amending the Universities of Agricultural Sciences Act to prevent privatisation of agriculture education.
The Chief Minister, who was on his way to work from his house, stepped out of his car to meet students studying the subject who were protesting in front of Town Hall. Later, in the evening, he convened a meeting with Agriculture Minister N.H. Shivashankara Reddy and other officials of the department along with students and farmer leaders.
He directed the department to form a committee to look into amendments to the Act that allows for sanctioning of affiliation to private colleges. Many protesters also pointed out that private universities in the State that had received university status by the Department of Higher Education were offering agricultural courses.
The students, along with farmer leaders, have been protesting for the past eight days at their universities. On Tuesday, they marched from Town Hall to Freedom Park.
Ramesh V., a PhD agriculture student, said they would, however, continue to protest until the government initiated action against a private university that currently offers agricultural courses. He also said they would call off the strike only when the government gives them a commitment of what amendments it would introduce to stop privatisation of agriculture education.
