Karnataka Assembly passes Bill to create 8 new universities amid concerns

The Karnataka Assembly passed a Bill on Wednesday to create eight new universities, but the sentiment towards this among lawmakers across party lines was so negative that the ruling BJP feared it would be defeated by division of votes.

The Karnataka State Universities (Amendment) Bill proposes to create new universities at Bidar, Haveri, Kodagu, Chamarajanagar, Hassan, Koppal and Bagalkot. Also, the existing Mandya University's jurisdiction will be extended to cover the entire Mandya district.

Piloting the Bill, Higher Education Minister CN Ashwath Narayan said the creation of new universities is in line with the NEP that envisages a university in every district. The government will earmark Rs 2 crore for each university.

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MLAs, however, asked the government how the new universities will fare when existing ones are fraught with problems.

Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri was the first to raise concerns. "I went to Canada recently and saw lakhs of students from India and Karnataka. Does that mean there's no quality here? What about quality and infrastructure in existing universities?" he said.

Deputy Leader of the Opposition UT Khader, who represents Mangaluru, said the Mangalore University was now accredited with 'B' grade, down from 'A'.

A scornful AT Ramaswamy of the JD(S) asked the government to create a university in every taluk. "Earlier, the government went to people like Kuvempu, H Narasimhaiah, DC Pavate and DM Nanjundappa asking them to become VCs. Now, people fall at the government's feet to be appointed as VCs," he said.

BJP's Arvind Bellad pointed out that universities are not focussing on academics. "Construction of buildings and recruitment should be removed from universities," he said.

Congress' Krishna Byre Gowda concurred. "The CAG has documented unimaginable irregularities that have taken place during recruitment of staff," he said. "And, what can be done with just Rs 2 crore? A new university will need at least Rs 100-150 crore," he said.

When Congress' Shivanand Patil said the Bill should be withdrawn. "Looking at the criticism, the Bill will get defeated by division of votes," he said. Worried, government's chief whip Satish Reddy rushed to the Opposition benches.

Acknowledging quality concerns, Narayan said the government has drafted a new Bill to usher in reforms in terms of accountability and transparency. "We need to move away from specialised universities. The Music university, for example, has only 20-30 students," he said. "For the new universities, we will make use of existing infrastructure."