Laws to be amended to have govt nominee in 3 private universities

Bengaluru: The Department of Higher Education in the state is in the process of introducing amendments to laws concerning three private universities, which, once cleared will allow the government to nominate one representative to the Board of Governors of each varsity.

Chanakya, Azim Premji, and Alliance universities do not have any member on their board representing the government. The laws through which these varsities were created will be amended and introduced in the winter session of the Karnataka legislature in Belagavi, said sources in the Karnataka State Higher Education Council (KSHEC).

“It’s important to have a representative of the government on the boards of private universities. While Azim Premji and Alliance universities are older, we were surprised that even the Chankya University board does not have a member nominated by the government,” a KSHEC official told DH.

Minister for Higher Education Dr M C Sudhakar reiterated the importance of the government being privy to the affairs of private universities. “The representative must, however, be an expert or an academic. All other universities barring these three, have members nominated by the government on the board. We will bring amendments to rectify this,” Sudhakar told DH.

The minister said that neither the principal secretary to the department nor a member he nominates could be considered as the government’s representative. “The principal secretary is an ex-officio member,” Sudhakar added.

Interestingly enough, the government has not nominated representatives to the board of those private universities that have made provisions to accommodate one. The Congress government withdrew those nominated by the BJP government. “In a notification issued on May 24, the Department of Higher Education withdrew all government nominees to universities, including private varsities, and fresh appointments were made to very few,” revealed a source.

The representative would act as a conduit between the government and the private varsity, alerting the university administration to irregularities, and bringing the same to the notice of the state, the source added.

“Unfortunately, we haven’t appointed representatives to private universities for the past ten months,” the source said.

Sudhakar said that the government was aware of the delay, adding that the process to nominate representatives was under way. “We have issued orders for the appointment of government representatives to one or two private varsities, and the process will be completed in a couple of days,” he said.