The Karnataka Universities Bill passed amidst protest and walkout by BJP

The Karnataka State Universities Bill 2017, formulated advocating uniform administration in all 22 universities in the State was passed with majority consent; amidst protest and walkout by BJP members.

The main contention against the bill was that it is detrimental to the education sector and converts universities into another government department. Also that it clips the autonomy and dignity of the universities. However, ignoring the protests and walkout, the Higher Education Minister Basavaraja Rayaraddi tabled the bill and it was passed with majority consent, reports Kannada Prabha.

Basavaraja Rayaraddi further explained that of the 17 government universities in the State, vice-chancellors of 9 are facing serious corruption charges and 8 VCs are facing criminal cases filed against them. The administration and academic quality of the varsities have plummeted down considerably and hundreds of crores of misappropriation of funds exposed. The bill envisages uniform administration practices in the State to discipline the varsities in terms of financial, academic and administration, he said.

Massive corruption has been reported in civil works contracts and procurement tenders in the past 17 years. It is proposed in the bill, that all civil works and purchase processes should have government approval. It is mandatory for all contracts over Rs 1 crore to be approved by the government and all contracts over Rs 10 crores should be approved by the Cabinet.

The BJP members alleged that the bill had a hidden agenda to take over the varsities and kill their autonomy. The bill would definitely be detrimental to the higher education sector of the State and hand over the varsities into the hands of IAS and KAS officials, they protested.

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