St Joseph’s University Bill withheld in Council for technical reasons

Four new private universities got the sanction of the Legislative Council on Wednesday, while the fifth, St Joseph’s University Bill was withheld for technical reasons.

The institution is being upgraded into a varsity at an estimated cost of Rs 55 crore, of which the Centre’s share is 60%, while the rest will be pitched in by the state government. For any grant above Rs 20 crore, it requires the approval of the Governor. However, the Bill was passed in the Assembly without the governor’s approval.

A note to this effect was sent by law and parliamentary affairs Secretary to Higher Education Minister Ashwath Narayan, when the Council session was in progress.

The minister said the proposal had already been sent to the governor in this regard. “We will get the approval on Thursday and present it before the House,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Upper House passed the other four private varsity Bills, recently approved by the Assembly: The Sri Jagadguru Murugarajendra University Bill, Vidyashilp University Bill, Atria University Bill and New Horizon University Bill.

However, the Bills sparked a debate in the House with MLCs warning state government against losing control over private universities. Monitoring fees, recruitment and admissions to private institutions would be a huge challenge, they opined.

Responding to the concerns, Deputy CM and Higher Education Minister C N Ashwath Narayan said the universities would be guided by strict regulations. The state government will also soon bring in a Unified University and College Management system, which will help the government take real-time data on all universities, he added. The system is expected to be functional in the next three months.