<p class="rtejustify">The burgeoning controversy surrounding the bifurcation of Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) as announced in the Budget took a new twist on Thursday with the higher education minister revealing that they had never submitted any formal proposal to the state government on splitting the university.</p>.<p>Sources in the state government also pointed out that setting up a new technical university in Hassan was the idea of PWD Minister H D Revanna.</p>.<p>Clarifying on the government stand, Higher Education Minister G T Devegowda told <span class="italic">DH</span> that neither he nor his department had made any formal request to the government.</p>.<p>Amid mounting pressure on the government to drop plans of splitting the university, G T Devegowda said, “We (higher education department) have not submitted any request or proposal either to split the existing university or set up a new one. In fact, we have no such ideas currently.”</p>.<p>In the absence of a formal request or proposal by the higher education department, how did the idea of setting up a new technical university originate? According to sources in JD(S), the person behind the announcement was Public Works Minister H D Revanna who was keen on setting up a technical university in Hassan — the home turf of Gowda family. A source in the government said, “It was the dream of Revanna to set up a technical university in the name of his father and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda who came up from a humble technical background as a civil engineer.”</p>.<p>The JD(S) leader said Revanna had casually mentioned this to higher education department officials during the preparation of the Budget.</p>.<p>Meanwhile, MLA from Belagavi South Abhay Patil claimed to have got an assurance from Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy that VTU will not be bifurcated. Patil, along with MLA from Belagavi North Anil Benke, met Kumaraswamy and submitted a memorandum inked by more than 50 MLAs opposing the idea of splitting the VTU. “The chief minister told us that the government will not bifurcate VTU and instead only a regional centre of VTU will be set up in Hassan considering the geographical location,” Patil clarified.</p>
<p class="rtejustify">The burgeoning controversy surrounding the bifurcation of Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) as announced in the Budget took a new twist on Thursday with the higher education minister revealing that they had never submitted any formal proposal to the state government on splitting the university.</p>.<p>Sources in the state government also pointed out that setting up a new technical university in Hassan was the idea of PWD Minister H D Revanna.</p>.<p>Clarifying on the government stand, Higher Education Minister G T Devegowda told <span class="italic">DH</span> that neither he nor his department had made any formal request to the government.</p>.<p>Amid mounting pressure on the government to drop plans of splitting the university, G T Devegowda said, “We (higher education department) have not submitted any request or proposal either to split the existing university or set up a new one. In fact, we have no such ideas currently.”</p>.<p>In the absence of a formal request or proposal by the higher education department, how did the idea of setting up a new technical university originate? According to sources in JD(S), the person behind the announcement was Public Works Minister H D Revanna who was keen on setting up a technical university in Hassan — the home turf of Gowda family. A source in the government said, “It was the dream of Revanna to set up a technical university in the name of his father and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda who came up from a humble technical background as a civil engineer.”</p>.<p>The JD(S) leader said Revanna had casually mentioned this to higher education department officials during the preparation of the Budget.</p>.<p>Meanwhile, MLA from Belagavi South Abhay Patil claimed to have got an assurance from Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy that VTU will not be bifurcated. Patil, along with MLA from Belagavi North Anil Benke, met Kumaraswamy and submitted a memorandum inked by more than 50 MLAs opposing the idea of splitting the VTU. “The chief minister told us that the government will not bifurcate VTU and instead only a regional centre of VTU will be set up in Hassan considering the geographical location,” Patil clarified.</p>
