JOIN US The Legislative Council on Wednesday passed the Visvesvaraya Technological University (Amendment) Bill which proposes additional powers to the State government while dealing with varsity matters.
The Higher Education minister C T Ravi, who piloted the Bill, said the State government shall annul any order, notification, resolution of any meetings of the executive council, academic senate or any other body of the University as per the proposed amendments.
“Also, every new statute and audit reports after the approval of the executive council should be forwarded to the government,” he said.
The Bill also proposes norms for appointment of vice-chancellor and registrar on lines with the amendments to the Karnataka State Universities (Amendment) Bill, 2013.
The Legislative Assembly passed three private university Bills – Presidency University Bill, New Baldwin University Bill and CMR University Bill. Besides, the Assembly also passed another amendment Bill, seeking to establish DVG Jnana Vahini by splitting the Bangalore University.
The private university Bills were passed despite stiff opposition from members of the opposition parties. Members expressed fear that private universities may compromise on the quality of education and that there should be proper control mechanism to regulate their activities.
Deputy leader of the Opposition T B Jayachandra said the government has to ascertain the background and the capacity of the institutions that have come forward to set up private universities. Karnataka is known for quality education. The State universities have been attracting students from across the globe. The proposed private universities may not maintain the quality, he added.
H C Mahadevappa (Congress) said the private universities may not follow the reservation norms for SCs, STs and backward classes. In the absence of a control mechanism, the government will not be able to force them to give reservation in admission, he added.
The Higher Education minister, however, argued the government has put a proper control system in place to regulate their activities. The Bills seek to give only in-principle approval to set up private universities. They will get the complete university status only after fulfilling guidelines laid down by the government, he added.
Sugarcane Control Board
The Legislative Council also passed the Karnataka Sugarcane (Regulation of purchase and supply) Bill, 2013 which has provision for constitution of Sugarcane Control Board to advise regarding State Sugarcane Advisory Price (SAP). The Bill also prohibits the distribution and planting of unsuitable varieties of seeds of sugarcane.
The government tabled six different Bills, including the Electricity (Karnataka Amendment) Bill, the Karnataka Electricity (Taxation on Consumption) (Amendment) Bill, the Karnataka Agriculture Produce Marketing (Regulation and Development) (Amendment) Bill, Sri Malai Mahadeshwaraswamy Kshethra Development Authority Bill, the Mysore Palace (Acquisition and Transfer) (Amendment) Bill and the Karnataka Repealing of Certain Enactments and Regional Laws Bill.