BU won’t seek aid for granting more land to NAAC

Bangalore University (BU) will not seek financial aid for providing an additional piece of land to the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) on the Jnanabharati campus.

Financial aid to improve its infrastructure was one of the conditions the varsity had imposed on the agency when the latter sought the additional five-acre land on the campus; the other being the right to access the auditorium the NAAC would build.

BU’s decision to drop the condition comes after NAAC communicated that the University Grants Commission (UGC) has not allocated funds for assistance.

The varsity decided to allot the extra five-acre land at a recent Syndicate meeting with the sole condition of utilizing the auditorium the NAAC plans to build in the additional piece of land.

Syndicate members said they discussed the proposal in detail and several members were of the opinion that they should not drop the conditions altogether. “They thought the waiver was unnecessary,” a senior Syndicate member said.

“But having NAAC in Karnataka, especially on the Jnanabharati campus, is a matter of prestige and if we deny them the land, then chances are that other states would offer them land without laying conditions and we’ll lose the chance to host the institute here,” the member explained the rationale behind the decision.

A senior varsity official said BU asked for financial aid to build infrastructure and laboratories in the campus. “But NAAC asked us to remove the condition, even as they agreed to give us access to the auditorium. Now, the Syndicate has removed the first condition,” the official said.

BU Vice-Chancellor Prof KR Venugopal said having NAAC on the campus was a matter of pride for the varsity. “There’re chances that we’ll lose the institute if we refuse to provide the land. After a detailed discussion at the Syndicate, we decided to provide the additional land,” he added.