BENGALURU: The state cabinet on Friday decided to free religious minority higher education institutions from certain rules, including enrolling 50% of students from minority communities, to get the minority status.
It also decided that two-third of the staff of these institutions should be from respective minority communities.
The cabinet decided to publish the draft of the amendment to the Karnataka Educational Institutions (Terms and Conditions for Granting Recognition to Minority Educational Institutions) (College Education) (1st Amendment) Rules, 2024, in the Karnataka Gazette and invite objections or suggestions from the affected parties. If no objections are received, the draft rules will be finalised without presenting them before the cabinet again.
“Since the population of Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist and Parsi communities is small among minorities in the state, it is difficult to have 50% student strength from these communities in the institutions run by them as per the existing rules to declare them as minority education institutions,” the cabinet observed and justified the amendment to the existing rules.
Briefing reporters, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister HK Patil defended the move stating that amendment to the rules has been done as per the provisions of Article 30 and norms of the National Minority Commission.
“The rules have been scrapped for primary and secondary education, and now we are applying the same for higher education,” he clarified.
The cabinet decided to strengthen government higher education institutions with external grants amounting to Rs 2,500 crore, including Rs 1,750 crore from the World Bank and Rs 750 crore from the state government, for over four years from July 2025. It will submit a preliminary project report to the World Bank through the Department of Economic Affairs of the Centre for approval for external grants.
Other decisions
Placing Karnataka Protection of Interest of Depositors in Financial Establishments (Amendment) Bill, 2024
Purchase of diagnostic kits for health laboratories under National Free Diagnostic and Free Medicine Services Programme at Rs 19.70cr
Supply of bunk beds to SC/ST hostels at Rs 42cr under SCP/TSP
Rs 25cr for road improvement from Ijeri to Yadrami in Jewargi taluk of Kalaburagi district under KKRDB
Rs 97.27cr for road development in Hoskote taluk with state’s share of Rs 54.25cr
Rs 40.50cr to build social welfare dept office in Sampangiram Nagar, Bengaluru