BENGALURU: Higher Education Minister R V Deshpande is pushing for a state university in his constituency Karwar, along the lines of a central university.
According to senior officials, the Higher Education Council will take up the proposal for serious discussion at its executive committee meeting in the city on Wednesday. The meeting will be chaired by Deshpande.
It will also examine a report on the proposal, prepared by a panel headed by Prof S K Saidapur, former vice-chancellor of Karnatak University. The report recommends the setting up of a university offering specific courses.
It suggests that the new university can offer courses in less popular subjects like marine science, earth science, bio-science, nano technology, forestry and environment besides the regular ones like chemical, mathematical and medical sciences, a senior council member, who is also the vice-chancellor of a state university, told Express.
The idea is to offer both short-term six-month certificate courses and long-duration five-year degree courses. The committee has also recommended setting up dedicated schools for marine science, earth science etc.
Dissenting Voices
The minister’s move has drawn criticism from many senior members, who feel it was sprung on them without prior notice or deliberations.
“I was not aware of any such proposal before. I was surprised when I saw it as a major agenda for the meeting,” a council member said.
Many vice-chancellors who will be attending the meeting told Express that they would not give consent to the proposal.
They said state varsities like Davangere University, Rani Chennamma University, Belagavi, Sri Krishnadevaraya University, Ballari, Sanskrit University and Music University are struggling for survival.
“Let the government provide infrastructure for the existing universities. Then we will think of setting up a new one,” another member said.
Meanwhile, Deshpande said Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s budget had included this project. He said Karwar merits a central university as it is the hub of the Navy’s biggest nuclear power project in Kaiga.
Other Topics on Agenda