Sources in the state higher education department suspect so since V Rashmi was adamant on taking action against private professional colleges for collecting excess fee from students who got undergraduate seats through CET 2012.
Did private professional college managements play a role in the recent exit of the executive director of Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA)?
Sources in the state higher education department suspect so since KEA’s former executive director V Rashmi was adamant on taking action against private professional colleges for collecting excess fee from students who got undergraduate seats through Common Entrance Test (CET) 2012.
On Wednesday, the state government issued an order transferring some IAS officials and Rashmi was one among them.
Raising suspicion on the role played by private college managements, state higher education minister CT Ravi said he was unaware of the transfer.
“Even I was surprised to know about the transfer order. Moreover, I got to know the news from media,” Ravi said.
Counselling for undergraduate professional courses has not been completed. KEA is planning an extended round for unfilled and surrendered seats.
“I don’t understand why she was transferred in the middle of the counselling process,” Ravi said.
Sources in the higher education department said: “There was pressure on the government to shift her from KEA. The main reason was the reforms she was bringing in to CET.”
Following the pressure which Rashmi put on the higher education department, its secretary had issued a circular directing the Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) to issue show-cause notices to all colleges which had collected excess fee from students.
The VTU circular issued on August 29 to 14 errant colleges sought an explanation from them and also warned them of disaffiliation.
This forced the managements to approach the government with a request to transfer Rashmi, officials said.
For the first time, ignoring opposition from private college managements, Rashmi had successfully implemented online counselling from this year.
She was also against providing unfilled seats to managements but the then chief minister DV Sadananda Gowda intervened.
Besides private college managements, lawmakers were trying to pressure primary and secondary education minister Visveshwar Hegde Kageri to send her out from the pre-University department where she was a commissioner.
Sources close to Kageri confirmed that MLC Puttanna had thrice requested him to get Rashmi transferred.
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