BENGALURU: The opening of new universities in Karnataka without carrying out any in-depth study has impacted the internal revenue of the old public (state) universities, Higher Education Minister Dr MC Sudhakar told the Council on Monday.
He was replying to a question raised by BJP MLC Talwar Sabanna, who complained that the state-run universities, which should be an inspiration to the youths, are suffering from multiple issues.
Joining Sabanna, Congress MLC Puttanna said that the condition of the universities has been deteriorating in the last two decades and called them sinking ships. He said that universities have become White Elephants for the government. LoP Chalavadi Narayanaswamy urged the government give more priority to education and health sectors. He demanded that 14,000 vacant posts in universities across the state be filled soon.
Sudhakar lamented that if the issues of the universities had been raised and addressed in the past 20 years, the burden of resolving everything would not have fallen entirely on the current government. He said that the issues faced by public universities were not acute but chronic, and applying a balm would not help. He said they need to address the root cause to improve them.
He said there are 32 universities in the state, and as they were set up without proper consideration, they are facing issues relating to revenue generation, pension and staff shortage. Sudhakar said that a cabinet sub-committee has been formed to review the financial conditions of the universities, and action will be taken after the report.
He said that the government has approved filling up vacant posts in the state’s universities and that 1,000 posts will be filled this year. Also, to address the problem of paying pension,Sudhakar said 30% of the income generated by the traditional universities would be reserved to pay pension, and the remaining 70% would be borne by the state.