The Hindu /Raviprasad Kamila

Mangalore, Feb 28: The Academic Council of Mangalore University at a special meeting on Tuesday decided to recommend to the Government to grant autonomy to seven degree colleges based on a report submitted to it by the standing committee of the university, according to sources in the university.

The seven colleges are St Aloysius College, Mangalore, St Agnes College, Mangalore, St Ann's College, Mangalore, School of Social Work, Roshni Nilaya, Mangalore, Shri Dharmasthala Manjunatheswara College, Ujire, Mahatma Gandhi Memorial College, Udupi and Bhandarkar's College, Kundapur, the sources told. The council accepted the report of the standing committee, which had been constituted to inspect the colleges and decide if they could be granted autonomy.

The report and the observations made by the council would be sent to the Syndicate.

The report and the observations made by the Syndicate and the council would then be sent to the Government for approval, the sources said.

H D Basavaraj, MLA, Virajpet, suggested that the standing committee submit a supplementary report on the reservation policy adopted by those colleges during admission of students and recruitment.

The council agreed to the MLA's suggestion.

Basavaraj wanted to know in detail if the colleges were following the reservation rules, the sources said.

The meeting was presided over by K M Kaveriappa, Vice-Chancellor of the university. Ganesh Karnik, MLC, and K Sundar Naik, Registrar, were present, the sources said.

In February 2005, the University Grants Commission (UGC) agreed to grant autonomy to the seven colleges based on the recommendations of an expert committee of the UGC, which visited the colleges between September 10, 2004 and October 13, 2004.