BENGALURU: There appears to be no end in sight to the debate on the bifurcation of Bangalore University. Keeping aside all the expert committee reports submitted so far, the Cabinet on Wednesday constituted a sub-committee to take a final call.
When the issue was brought up at the Cabinet meeting, many ministers, including Law Minister T B Jayachandra, raised objections and demanded the merging of Tumkur and Bangalore Universities given the former’s lack of growth. Following no consensus, a two-member sub-committee comprising Higher Education Minister R V Deshpande and Jayachandra was set up.
What is The Issue?
The exercise of bifurcating Bangalore University began in 2009 when Aravind Limbavali was the higher education minister. He constituted a panel headed by former BU vice-chancellor N Rudraiah, and the committee recommended trifurcation. Following opposition from academia, the report was reviewed by another panel, which suggested bifurcation.
Later, the then higher education minister C T Ravi constituted yet another expert panel,which too favoured bifurcation. Based on the reports, C T Ravi placed the bifurcation bill at the Assembly and Council sessions. But when it was sent for the governor’s approval, he returned it without signing.
Subsequently, Deshpande asked K R Venugopal, special officer, to submit a detailed report. Venugopal’s report was placed before the Cabinet on Wednesday.