BENGALURU: The state government wants Bangalore University to start a chair in the name of Jawaharlal Nehru, but that would violate an earlier government order.
In a letter, the government has estimated the cost of the chair at `5 crore. “Yes, we’ve got a letter, but we have not taken any decision,” a university source said.
The university has forwarded the proposal to the political science department. An earlier government order restricts setting up of new study centres and chairs because of the poor response to existing ones. When C T Ravi was higher education minister, he had issued the order and stopped funding.
Vice-Chancellor B Thimme Gowda said, “We are clear we will not be able to provide funds. If the funding comes from the government or elsewhere, we will think about it.” He said it would be difficult for the university to set up the chair even if government provided `3 crore.
“We are short of funds even to run essential courses. The government has frozen faculty recruitment, saying it has no funds to pay salaries,” said a senior professor at the university. “What is the a need to set up another chair or study centre?”
Bangalore University already runs three study centres, in the names of Gandhi, Ambedkar and Kempegowda.
In Mangaluru: Mangalore University already has a chair in the name of Jawaharlal Nehru.
Prof P L Dharma, Head of the Department of Political Science, said, “It is a Karnataka government project and is a year old. It is funded by the government.”
The chair conducts no research, though. “We are trying to take Nehru’s ideas and works to rural schools,” Dharma said.
Govt Gesture
Nehru Chintana Kendra is a project announced in the state budget of 2015. The cost is `5 crore and the government has already announced a grant of `3 crore, an official in the Higher Education Department said.