A seven-member expert committee constituted to look into the division of Bangalore University (BU) has recommended that it be split into five varsities. The previous two committees, headed by N. Rudraiah, the former Vice-Chancellor of Gulbarga University, and N.R. Shetty, the former Vice-Chancellor of BU, had proposed the trifurcation and bifurcation of BU respectively.
The draft proposal of the expert committee has been submitted to the government.
Higher Education Minister R.V. Deshpande said: “The committee has submitted the report to the government but it has not yet reached me. We will have to consult the stakeholders concerned about the recommendations made by the committee. It has to be placed before the Cabinet and in the public domain. Only then can it be sent to the legislature. It is true that the BU, at present, has too many colleges affiliated to it and academicians have been suggesting that it be split for better functioning.”
According to the draft proposal, BU will be divided according to the Assembly constituencies — as Bangalore University North, Bangalore University South, Bangalore University East and Bangalore University West.
University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering (UVCE), which will soon celebrate its centenary, had been proposed as a ‘special institution’, said K. Narahari, who has been part of all three committees.
He said that by adhering to the 100 colleges per university policy of the Ministry of Human Resource Development, roughly 100 to 150 colleges would be affiliated to all the new universities.
RUSA fundsAnother member, on condition of anonymity, said the new varsities would be eligible for a minimum of Rs. 55 crore each under the Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA).
“BU has 614 colleges from Bagepalli to Nelamangala. These colleges come under 47 Assembly constituencies and six Lok Sabha constituencies. It has 3.5 lakh students and an estimated 21 lakh answer scripts to be evaluated. Research, administration and evaluation have been affected because of this.”
The last attempt at dividing the BU was made in 2012 under the BJP government. The report by the Karnataka State Higher Education Council, though passed by the Assembly, met with Governor H.R. Bhardwaj’s disapproval. A new expert committee was formed this January to present an “extensive, detailed report”.
The committee consisted of members Mr. Narahari, Mr. Shetty, Mr. Rudraiah, K.R.S. Murthy (former Director, Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore), T.V. Mohandas Pai (chairman, Manipal Global Education Services), R. Natarajan (former chairman, All-India Council for Technical Education), and K.R. Venugopal, Special Officer, DVG Jnanavahini University (which was the other varsity proposed after bifurcation) as member-secretary.
