Karnataka: Amid controversy over the alleged plan to close new universities that the BJP government established, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D. K. Shivakumar informed the state assembly on Thursday that the government plans to merge these universities with their parent institutions.
Shivakumar, who leads a Cabinet sub-committee reviewing the status of public universities, made this statement while speaking during a discussion on the motion of thanks to the Governor’s address.
He explained that the government is merging universities because they are not sustainable. He also emphasized that obtaining a degree from Mysuru University is no different from getting one from the new Chamarajanagar University. The Deputy CM said, “Lecturers are not willing to join the new universities, so we have no choice but to merge them. You (BJP) divide, while we (Congress) unite—that’s the difference between us.”
Reports suggest that the government is considering merging nine universities including Koppal, Bagalkot, Haveri, Kodagu, Hassan, Chamarajanagar, Nrupathunga, Mandya and the Maharani cluster. Higher Education Minister M. C. Sudhakar stated that the government has not yet made a clear decision regarding these new universities.
Amid this uncertainty, people are protesting. The minister pointed out that the previous BJP government started seven universities with an allocation of ₹2 crore each, but they failed to purchase land, buy vehicle or hire faculty members. The government had promised that these universities would focus on uniqueness and digital learning but they struggled to meet these goals.
The opposition BJP accused the Congress government of being “anti-education.” Former Higher Education Minister and BJP MLA C. N. Ashwath Narayan stressed that these universities are essential. He also pointed out that according to the law only the Governor as the chancellor has the authority to review them.
