Council passes Universities Bill

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE, AUG. 14. The Karnataka State Universities Bill 2000 was passed in the Legislative Council on Tuesday after the Opposition staged a walk-out in protest against the Government's ``stubborn attitude'' towards its demands.

In his reply to the discussion on the Bill, the Minister of State for Higher Education, Dr. G. Parameshwar, thanked the 21 Opposition members, who participated in the discussion, for making ``suggestions on the Bill and pointing out mistakes in it.''

Explaining the objectives of the Bill, he said that like any other field, education was undergoing rapid changes. The State wanted to meet the demands of the times as it had been a model for the country in adopting methods to cope with the changing times. What was wrong in appointing vice-chancellors through a law approved by both the Houses of the legislature, when the chairperson of the University Grants Commission and the heads of the All-India Council for Technical Education, the National Council for Teachers' Education, the IITs and the IIMs were appointed by the Union Government, he asked.

Clarifying the Government's stand on the Bill, he said it intended no interference in the academic activities of universities. Referring to the abolishing of the senate, he said it was an ``outmoded concept.'' Quoting the recommendations of the Navaneeth Rao Committee and the Savadatti Committee (1995) on abolishing of senate and the sections in a Bill prepared by the former Minister of Higher Education, Mr. B. Somashekhar, he said all of them recommended its abolition. ``We are intending to implement what the previous Government did not do,'' he added.

The Visvesvaraya Technological University, established by the Janata Dal Government, and the University of Agricultural Sciences, were functioning without senates. It was observed that owing to the large number of representatives, the senate could not have effective and purposeful discussions. For instance, Bangalore University had 65 senate members and 206 Academic Council members. In Karnatak University, they numbered 81 and 208, respectively. Discussing the same issues in two bodies would amount to duplication, he said.

Touching upon various sections of the Bill such as those on ``ban on private tuition, inter-university board and inter-university transfer,'' he urged the Opposition members to cooperate with the Government in getting the Bill passed.

Responding to the minister's reply, the Opposition Leader, Mr. K. H. Srinivasa, said the opposition was not against the Bill, but its intentions were not agreeable to it. ``It seems that the Government has no open mind in accepting its suggestions. The method in which the minister attempted to defend his points of view was not appropriate. Quoting convenient points from various records will not reflect a holistic view of the issue. We knew that the Government would not budge from its stand, yet we were hoping against hope in the interest of university education and administration. It is unfortunate that ministers such as Prof. B. K. Chandrashekar, Mr. M. Y. Ghorpade and Mr. H. K. Patil did not rise to the occasion and were silent on the issue. Now, there is no point in raising counter arguments to the minister's reply. We stage a walk out in protest against the draconian Bill,'' he said.

Expressing his disappointment over the ``attitude of the Opposition members'', Dr. Parameshwar said ``they have insulted the Lower House.'' The Assembly had passed the Bill unanimously after a detailed discussion on it, he added.

The Bill was later passed by a voice vote.

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