Common law, or autonomy?

Updated on: Monday, February 15, 2010

The majority of the recommendations of the committee on Karnataka State Universities Act — which proposed a single Act to govern all State universities besides suggesting measures for qualitatively upgrading university administration — have been, by and large, well received among academicians.

However, the committee's two crucial proposals — to give final authority to the State Government in the matter of appointment of Vice-Chancellors and to re-introduce elections to students' unions — have been viewed as “politically influenced” suggestions.

The committee, headed by Bangalore University's former Vice-Chancellor N.R. Shetty, has proposed that Visvesvaraya Technological University, Karnataka State Open University, Kannada University, Karnataka State Women's University, and Universities of Bangalore, Mysore, Karnatak, Mangalore, Kuvempu, and Gulbarga come under the common Karnataka State Universities Act. However, it has retained the distinctive features of each university by making provision for this purpose in separate schedules for them under the Act.

Going a step ahead, the committee has even suggested to the Government to bring the universities of other disciplines like medical science, agricultural science, law, Sanskrit and Vedas, and music, under the purview of the common Act.

While favouring multi-disciplinary universities over unitary, mono-discipline universities, the committee has suggested that universities may be permitted to start model institutions in other disciplines. For instance, a university in general education can establish model institutions in medical science, engineering and technology, agricultural sciences, among others.

M. S. Thimmappa, former Vice-Chancellor of Bangalore University, felt that a common law for universities within a State is most desirable as it brings uniformity in administration.

However, Mr. Thimmappa was critical about the committee's proposal on appointment of Vice-Chancellors (VCs).

Leave it to Governor

He says the Governor, who is the head of the universities in his capacity as Chancellor, should have the final say on appointment of VCs. The committee's proposal is that the Governor should approve the name recommended by the State Government from the panel of three eminent academicians suggested by a search committee.

Mr. Thimmappa is also against re-introduction of elections to student unions based on the opinion of the Supreme Court-appointed Lyngdoh Committee on recognising these unions and conducting elections to them.

He says that though election is a democratic process, any move to re-permit elections to these unions will only throw open the colleges and the universities to the political parties as it has been proved in the past that these unions are controlled by different political parties.

A former Vice-Chancellor of Mangalore University described the suggestions on empowering the State Government in appointment of VCs and recognising student unions and conducting elections to them as “politically influenced.”

Karnataka State Open University's former Dean (Academics) Chambi Puranik too is not happy with the committee's recommendation on empowering the Government on VCs' appointment. He disapproved the suggestion to have a data bank of eminent academicians for considering them for appointment to the post of VCs while stating that it is not a difficult task to identify eminent academicians.

For autonomy

Prof. Puranik raised doubts about having a common law for all the State universities. “I feel each university should be an autonomous body with minimum government interference and hence there is nothing wrong in having different Acts for different varsities.”

Both Prof. Puranik and Mr. Thimmappa hailed the committee's proposal to fix a minimum period for the State Government to give approval for various statutes, ordinances and regulations of the varsities.

The committee has suggested that statutes, ordinances and regulations having no financial implications are deemed to have been assented to by the State Government in case no communication is received from it within two months from the date the proposal is submitted by the university.

This proposal is a crucial one as it has been the experience of the universities that the Government has failed to respond to the communications for months and years, points out Mr. Thimmappa.

Regarding recommendations on distance education, Prof. Puranik says that there is a need to establish a State Distance Education Council, on the lines of the Distance Education Council of India (DECI), to monitor distance education programmes offered by the universities in the State. He did not agree with the suggestion of the committee that universities set up their distance education centres only within their jurisdiction. “When universities from outside the State are permitted to set up their distance education centres here why not our universities establish their centres outside the State with the permission of DECI,” asks Prof. Puranik, who himself was associated with the DECI.

The committee's proposals to give priority to appointment of experienced academicians to the posts of Registrars, and creation of posts of Pro Vice-Chancellor have been well received.

Good opportunity

Bangalore University First Grade College Principal's Association General Secretary B.S. Srikanta says that creation of Pro Vice-Chancellor's posts provide an opportunity for experience lecturers even working in affiliated colleges to serve at the university level. As per the committee's proposal, a professor of the university or a principal of a college with a minimum of 10 years of experience in teaching and research in the cadre concerned can be appointed to the post of Pro Vice-Chancellor.

The academicians also welcome the proposal to give prominence to teaching faculty in the appointments to the post of Registrar. At present, officers from the IAS and KAS cadres are appointed.

“It is better in the interest of higher education to limit the interference of bureaucrats in the university administration,” says Mr. Srikanta. Mr. Thimmppa and Prof. Puranik hold similar views.

Common law, or autonomy?

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