Southern States - Karnataka

`Politics dominating universities'

By Our Staff Correspondent

MYSORE JUNE 28. The former Chief Justice of India, M.N. Venkatachalaiah, has lamented that politics is dominating universities instead of academics.

Justice Venkatachalaiah, who was the Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, was speaking here on Friday at the University of Mysore after releasing the book, "Legacy of Learning", brought out by the university. He remarked that the "scholarly politics of teachers in universities were worse than that of politicians". Urging the academics to uphold the sanctity of places of learning, he said it should be felt by anyone entering the portals of universities. Academic liberty was given in the universities of the U.S., and they were not misused.

Noting that there were more than 190 million dalit children aged below 14, he said the problems of nutrition, education, and upbringing of these children had to be addressed by scholars in universities. Science had to be used as a liberating factor by scholars, he added.

On Indians making waves abroad, he said those working outside the country brought tremendous fame to it. Indians had the finest minds in the world. But they looked anti-synergetic and anti-symbiotic when they worked in the country.

Stating that the dwindling number of admissions to courses in basic sciences was a cause for concern, he said teaching of humanities in universities had become a dream. In the light of the revolution ushered in by the knowledge economy, distance education on a large scale could become a reality. Empty classrooms would be the order of the day in the near future.

He said that India had always woken up late to the forces of change, and the country did not properly handle the changes brought about by the industrial revolution. Such delays in responding to changes brought about by science and technology should be one of the concerns of the future, he added.

The "Legacy of Learning" provides a glimpse of the accomplishments of the University of Mysore over the past 85 years, and its plans for the future. The book contains 71 articles in nine parts.

The achievements of the 15 science departments, their growth and accomplishments, courses and research programmes offered by them, and infrastructure facilities, are contained in it.

The Vice-Chancellor, S.N. Hegde, released "Challenges of the 21st Century in Mathematics". Both the books have been brought out by the university through the Prasaranga.

The Director of Prasaranga, Lakshminarayan Arora, and the Registrar, N.D. Tiwari, were present.

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