The expert committee constituted by the State government to look into the possibility of establishing a full-fledged university on the PG campus of University of Mysore (UoM) in Chamarajanagar is expected to submit its report by August 5.
The committee, headed by the UoM Vice-Chancellor G. Hemantha Kumar, had visited the campus and also had a couple of meetings, including with the district administration, for eliciting opinions and studying practicability of establishing the university in the backward district.
The districts of Mysuru, Chamarajanagar, Mandya and Hassan come under the UoM. Mandya and Hassan have well-established PG centres.
In its meeting with the district administration, the committee has sought a 100-acre land for creating the university. The PG campus is spread over 54 acres on Mysore-Chamarajanagar road near Chamarajanagar town. The UoM offers 10 courses on campus.
Prof. Hemantha Kumar told The Hindu that the committee would be submitting its report to the government by August 5. “I cannot divulge the details of our observations but I can say that the committee is positive about the proposal,” he replied.
He said the committee, in its meeting with the Deputy Commissioner, sought land for the university for a 25-year vision plan. “The university can be set up on the present PG campus. However, over a period of time, the university has to be expanded to accommodate more facilities such as departments and hostels. The UGC looked into various aspects, including infrastructure, for awarding 12(B) status and other grants. In this regard, the committee discussed with the DC the availability of land.”
Chamarajanagar PG centre is the UoM’s third campus, and the first grade colleges – government and private – are affiliated to the UoM.
V.G. Talawar, former Vice-Chancellor, University of Mysore (member); Kemparaj, Vice-Chancellor, Bangalore North University (member); and Gopalakrishna Joshi, Executive Director, Karnataka State Higher Education Council, Bengaluru (convener), are in the expert committee.
“The members will sit together and prepare a report compiling all our observations. The committee is of the opinion that the border district can make academic progress if it gets a university,” the VC replied.
The PG campus is doing well. Out of 800-plus students, around 500 are women. The students have been getting good results and the centre is growing educationally, he observed.
The UoM has sought 20 faculty members for the campus. About 24 students of the PG campus have bagged gold medals and they would be receiving them during the ensuing convocation of UoM.
Sources said many State universities, barring UoM, have less than two districts under their jurisdiction after new State universities were formed. Keeping this in view, the government may consider giving Chamarajnagar’s PG centre University status.
