UGC's jurisdiction norms against spirit of Constitution: Rangappa

Former vice chancellor of Karnataka State Open University (KSOU), K S Rangappa, has said that if he was given the responsibility, he would ensure the courses offered by KSOU get recognition from the University Grants Commission (UGC) in three months.

Addressing reporters here on Wednesday, he said that the UGC’s imposition of jurisdiction on the KSOU is against the spirit of the Constitution and should be challenged.

“If a person can contest an Assembly election from any part of the nation, why cannot a person study in the institution of his choice from anywhere in the country? The KSOU is functioning on the basis of a similar Act as the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU). If IGNOU can have students from across the nation, why not KSOU? When I was the VC of KSOU, the UGC had served a notice to me questioning about the jurisdiction of the KSOU. I had challenged the notice before the court. If the UGC was right, it should have proved me wrong before the court. Why did it force the KSOU authorities later to withdraw the case?” he asked.

‘Conspiracy to derail KSOU’

“During my term as the VC, KSOU became popular across the nation. This resulted in a drop in enrolment of students in private institutions. So, the affected private institutions ganged up against the KSOU and lobbied with the UGC officials to clip the wings of the KSOU. This is conspiracy,” he said.

Expressing his displeasure over the functioning of the KSOU since the courses were de-recognised in 2013, Rangappa said, the UGC has de-recognised only the courses offered through partner institutions outside Karnataka and the technical courses it used to offer earlier.

“So, there is no bar on offering general courses to students in Karnataka. But, why is the KSOU not enrolling students of Karnataka to the available courses? Why has it stopped admissions completely since 2013? Have the officials concerned in the KSOU colluded with the private institutions to close down KSOU?” he asked.