Bengaluru, Feb 21 (IANS) Karnataka BJP has declared that it won’t allow the Congress-led government to shut down nine new universities established during its tenure.
Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, BJP State President B.Y. Vijayendra terming the decision as foolish on Friday, stated, “We have to launch a non-political agitation regarding the decision of closure of universities. The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) has taken it seriously and the BJP will give its complete support. There is no question of allowing the closure of universities which are established to ensure the academic opportunities of rural students. We will form a movement.”
On Friday, the ABVP held a round-table discussion involving education experts, senior officials, and public representatives. The discussion centred around a report submitted by the state cabinet subcommittee recommending the closure of nine universities due to the government’s inability to allocate Rs 350 crore over the next five years.
The state government’s decision based on the report is utterly foolish and unscientific, Vijayendra charged.
The previous BJP government had established these universities under one district-one university concept. The tragedy is, that the state government is taking financial considerations which should not be the basis for the closure of such universities. They build the future of rural students. The state should step back from this foolishness, he stated.
Participants strongly opposed this move, calling it an unscientific and irrational decision, he pointed out.
Vijayendra insisted that political and non-political groups must fight against this decision. He reiterated that BJP would fully support this movement and declared that they would not allow universities, which shape the future of rural and underprivileged students, to be shut down.
The BJP leader further announced plans for a large-scale protest against the decision. The universities in question were established under the “One District, One University” concept, and citing financial constraints to shut them down is an irresponsible move by the government. He urged the state to reconsider and withdraw this decision immediately.
The state government will close down nine of the 10 new universities after it was found that only one of them was fully functional.
The decision in this regard was taken in the Cabinet subcommittee meeting headed by Shivakumar and the subject was discussed in detail.
According to sources, the subcommittee has decided to continue Bidar University as it is a fully functional university and has 150 affiliated colleges and is functioning efficiently by generating good income.
The sources said the decision to shut the other nine that are yet to take off was taken in the backdrop of the lack of availability of land and funds to develop infrastructure for the new universities.
Sources stated that the universities of Hassan, Chamarajanagar, Haveri, Kodagu, Koppal, Bagalkot, Maharani Cluster in Bengaluru, Mandya and Nrupatunga are most likely to be shut down following the decision.
Dy CM D.K. Shivakumar responding to questions regarding the financial situation of the state’s universities and the subcommittee’s decision to shut down nine new universities, stated, “The Cabinet Subcommittee, formed to study the performance and financial conditions of the state’s universities, will make decisions in the best interests of the state, universities, and students.”
Ahead of Assembly elections, former Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai inaugurated nine universities in the state on March 23, 2023.
“All the new universities that were opened today are the future-writing centres,” Bommai had declared then.
–IANS
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