Raviprasad Kamila/The Hindu
- Committee to recommend amendments to KSU Act of 2000
- RGUHS, Agriculture Sciences universities not to be touched
- Panel likely to submit final report to Government by April-end
Mangalore, Feb 5: The eight-member committee constituted by the State Government to recommend amendments to the Karnataka State Universities (KSU) Act, 2000 will prepare a master draft to bring four universities catering to specific streams of education and seven conventional universities under a revised Act, according to A.M. Narahari, committee member.
“The draft will be prepared as per the terms of reference given to the committee by the Government,” he told The Hindu. The committee would look into various issues such as making the statutes of the Act simple and clear, methods to make undergraduate and postgraduate courses relevant, and how to reduce the burden of examinations, among others, he said.
Current status
“At present, the Kannada University, Karnataka State Open University (KSOU), and the Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU), are governed by separate Acts. The Karnataka State Women’s University (KSWU), although catering to a specific stream of education, is governed by the KSU Act, 2000. The master draft will be prepared to bring the Acts of the first three universities under the KSU Act,” he said.
With this, the four universities and seven conventional universities of Mangalore, Gulbarga, Mysore, Bangalore, Tumkur, Karnatak University, and Kuvempu University would come under the KSU Act, he said.
He said the scope of amendment would, however, not cover the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, universities of Agriculture Sciences and the Karnataka Veterinary, Animal and Fisheries Sciences University.
“The terms of reference made to the committee, taking into account the prevailing circumstances and necessities in higher education, are quite comprehensive,” Prof. Narahari said.
He said the committee would submit its final report to the Government by April-end. The committee, constituted last month, has to submit its report in six months. It has so far held four meetings. A meeting with the Vice-Chancellors of different universities is scheduled at Bangalore on Thursday and Friday.
“We will submit the report within the time-frame fixed by the Government,” he said.