Bangalore will soon get a new university run by the state government.
The state department of higher education is serious about setting up this institution to reduce the burden of the Bangalore University (BU).
According to top department sources, the university campus is likely to come up in Hoskote taluk (Bangalore Rural).
Confirming the move, state higher education minister CT Ravi said: “We are thinking of setting up a new university for Bangalore district. The issue is under discussion and we need to work out the things.”
He clarified that there will be no bifurcation of BU.
“There is no question of bifurcation. We will be setting up a new university. We will form a special committee comprising experts from the field. Based on their report, we will take further decision,” he said.
The main purpose behind setting up such a university is to reduce the work load of BU.
“Currently, BU has over 700 colleges affiliated to it and it has become a burden to manage them with the existing resources,” a department official said. In 2010 when Aravinda Limbavali was the higher education minister, the issue was discussed and a committee was formed under Prof N Rudraiah to study the issues.
The committee later submitted a report recommending trifurcation of the university. That move faced stiff opposition from the academia and it was dropped.
In 2011, VS Acharya, the then higher education minister, pursued the issue seriously. Acharya tried to bifurcate BU as Bangalore South and Bangalore North universities.
The vice-chancellor of Bangalore University Dr N Prabhu Dev strongly opposed the move and he was backed by governor HR Bhardwaj.
Following the governor’s intervention, the government dropped the bifurcation plan.
“It is not like South and North. We are bringing out a new university itself. The colleges, which are in the heart of the city, will be distributed equally among the Bangalore University and the new university,” Ravi said.
