Deputy CM D K Shivakumar wants dedicated institution for town planning in Bengaluru

Bengaluru: Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Friday instructed officials of the Department of Higher Education and the Vice-Chancellor of Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) to take steps towards establishing a dedicated institution for town/urban/ regional planning, to be named after Kempegowda, in Bengaluru.

Sources said that the Deputy CM had assured both the VTU and the Department of Higher Education of the state government providing Rs 100 crore for the institution. “The institute will function out of a temporary campus for now, and the Deputy CM has told us that it will be shifted to a permanent campus later,” said a source.

Government officials’ lack of knowledge about urban and town planning reportedly prompted the Deputy CM to contemplate setting up such an institution. The state government is even mulling over introducing amendments to the ‘Cadre and Recruitment’ rules for engineers. “The Deputy CM said that the government is in need of 2,000 engineers for planning across departments,” the source added.

Although Shivakumar was told that ‘Town Planning’ was part of the syllabus for architecture and civil engineering courses, the Deputy CM was insistent on a separate institution in Kempegowda’s
name.

VTU authorities told the Deputy CM that they would discuss the possibility of setting up such an institution with the All India Council for Technical Education, besides seeking permission from the Institute of Town Planners of India, which is a prerequisite for offering programmes in town planning.

Minister for Higher Education Dr M C Sudhakar, and other officials from his department were in attendance at the meeting.