MLCs representing teacher and graduate constituencies staged a demonstration in front of the higher education minister’s office at the Vikasa Soudha here on Monday.
Their demand was the withdrawal of an order issued by the Department of Collegiate Education asking faculty members sent on deputation to other colleges to report back to their parent institutions.
The protest was led by JD(S) MLC Marithibbe Gowda. Prakash Rathod, U B Venkatesh, B K Hariprasad and K Govidaraj were other MLCs who took part in the protest.
Speaking to news reporters, Gowda said the order could lead to the closure of some postgraduate courses at some colleges, affecting both students and faculty members. “The government must withdraw it immediately,” he said.
Gowda claimed that Higher Education Minister Dr C N Ashwath Narayan didn’t respond.
“We requested the minister to call a meeting of MLCs representing teacher and graduate constituencies and discuss the matter. But there has been no response from the minister. We were forced to protest,” he added.
Ashwath Narayan said, “we did this (calling back guest lecturers) after holding discussions several times in the Legislative Council. Under the Transfers Act 2021, there is no provision for deputing guest lecturers. I really don’t know why the MLCs are objecting to this. We did this in the students’ interests.”
Published 09 May 2022, 16:23 IST