Updated on: Monday, December 10, 2012
The government will name an in charge VC on Monday as the first meeting of the search panel is meeting on December 14. Incumbent VC V G Talawar is demitting office on Monday, and the government has started the process to put in ad-hoc administration in place. "The varsity has sent in five names, who can be named as in charge VC." It is expected that one of the deans will be named as the in charge VC.
In October 2007, when then VC J Shashidhara Prasad demitted the office, the government put in place ad-hoc administration naming an in charge VC as a stop-gap arrangement, which continued for over 13 months before Talawar was appointed as the VC on December 10, 2008.
With the search panel headed by former VC H P Khincha holding the first meeting on December 14, the government is constrained to appoint an in charge VC. However, higher education minister C T Ravi said the new VC will be named soon. "We've constituted the search committee, which is meeting on December 14. The process is on," he stated, adding that the government cannot press the panel to complete its assignment quickly.
Amidst mounting pressure on the government not to press for setting up of private universities in the state, higher education minister C T Ravi on Saturday argued in its favour.
Ravi said, "Karnataka could not have emerged as the IT hub in India but for the setting up of private engineering colleges in the state. Bangalore is IT City, because Karnataka has been producing quality graduates at its private engineering colleges." "We are not communist state to ban private sector," he asserted, even as he sought to clear doubts about the private varsities.
According to him, the government has put in place checks and balances and ruled out banning private varsities in the state. "We should be pro-development and it should be a win-win situation for all," he told reporters. This comes after ABVP, the student wing of BJP, urged the government not to approve private varsities. "Quality education should be our primary concern. We're seeking more seats in private varsities and there will be control over their fee structure too. There should be competition in the education sector," he stated.