The Union HRD ministry’s bombshell affidavit presented to the Supreme Court on January 18 proposing to withdraw the deemed university (i.e autonomous) status of 44 mainly private higher education institutions countrywide blacklisted by the P.N. Tandon Committee, has had an unlikely fallout in the southern state of Karnataka (pop. 57 million). The state’s six private sector deemed universities recommended for derecognition have found an ally in the BJP state government.
On January 22 Karnataka’s higher education minister Arvind Limbavali informed the media that “in the interest of students” the state government was willing to grant “private university status” to the impugned universities, as well as give them “other options”. In its affidavit filed in the Supreme Court the HRD ministry had named and shamed six deemed universities in Karnataka — Christ University, Bangalore; Sri Devraj Urs Academy of Higher Education and Research, Kolar; Yenepoya University, Mangalore; BLDE University, Bijapur; Sri Siddhartha Academy of Higher Education, Tumkur; and Jain University, Bangalore.
“The six deemed universities recommended by the Centre for derecognition are providing quality education and none of them is a substandard institution. If they are in trouble they can apply for private university status. We have already permitted one private university in the state. They also have other options. One is to become affiliated with a state university. Another is to get affiliation but have autonomous status,” Limbavali told mediapersons on January 22.
The BJP minister also took the opportunity to fire a salvo at the Congress-led UPA-2 government, and Union HRD minister Kapil Sibal in particular. “Sibal is taking unilateral decisions on education; it would have been better for him to discuss the issue with all the state education ministers before taking this policy decision,” he said.
Obviously Limbavali’s sudden display of generosity towards the six deemed universities has more to do with belittling and showing the Congress’ HRD minister Sibal in poor light, than genuine concern for the 12,098 students enroled in the six universities. According to sources within the education department, Limbavali did not attend either of the two meetings Sibal has held with the state’s education department officials in the past six months.
Meanwhile with the Supreme Court in an order dated January 25 directing the Union HRD ministry to maintain the status quo, and place on record the reports of the UGC Review and P.N. Tandon committees, the managements of Karnataka’s six deemed universities are wary about accepting Limbavali’s offer. They believe that they have a strong case given that most of them have received favourable reviews from UGC inspection committees.
While your correspondent’s repeated attempts to elicit responses on Limba-vali’s offer from the vice chancellors of Jain and Christ universities failed, sources within these deemed varsities indicate that the prospect of re-affiliating themselves with the thoroughly dumbed-down, corrupt, crumbling and caste-politics infested Bangalore University (BU) doesn’t enthuse these higher education institutions, which enjoy excellent public reputation. Nor does the prospect of autonomous status within BU. And the road to getting private university status from the state government is long and strewn with hurdles, including dealing with a nit-picking and corrupt education bureaucracy.
“Karnataka’s six deemed universities in the HRD ministry’s blacklist – particularly Christ and Jain — enjoy excellent reputations for delivering high market value degrees to their students. It is ridiculous of the Tandon Committee to include them in the list of sub-standard deemed universities. The plain truth is that all the six deemed varsities recommended for derecognition offer better infrastructure, faculty and curriculums than Karnataka’s 13 state government universities. Their excellent placement records are proof of their quality and commitment,” says a professor of a well known college in Bangalore who requested anonymity.
With the deemed university status face-off now being played out in the apex court, and victory in the first round having gone to the 44 listed universities, the managements of Karnataka’s six private “doomed universities” are keeping all their options open. Including the option presented by the BJP state government to apply for private university status.
Summiya Yasmeen (Bangalore)