B. Somashekar

GULBARGA: The State unit of the Janata Dal (United) on Thursday demanded that the Union Human Resource Development Ministry and the University Grants Commission stop forthwith indiscriminate sanctioning of deemed university status to educational institutions.

Addressing a press conference here, the State unit president of the party B. Somashekar, its vice-presidents Mohd. Nazir Ahmed, Basavaraj Ingin, and general secretary G.K.C. Reddy, said more number of educational institutions, particularly those running professional colleges, were getting deemed university status which was detrimental to the interests of meritorious poor students from the oppressed sections of society.

Mr. Somashekar said once these educational institutions got deemed university status they went out of the purview of the Common Entrance Test Cell and the entrance test conducted by private educational institutions. They seldom allowed reservation for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes prescribed for private aided and unaided educational institutions. The fees in these deemed universities were high.

On the proposed move for increasing reservation for Other Backward Classes in professional and elite educational institutions by the Union Human Resource Minister Arjun Singh, he said before doing this, the Minister should ensure that the Indian Institutes of Science and the Indian Institutes of Management fully implemented the quota earmarked for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Mr. Somashekar said there was 22 per cent reservation for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in these institutions and the record proved that these institutions had not fully implemented it.

They did not ever cross the eight per cent mark in providing reservation to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and the rest of the reserved seats had been given to students from forward communities.

He accused the Janata Dal (S)-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Government of bungling in admissions to professional courses this year by "yielding to the pressure tactics of private unaided professional colleges."

`Double standards'

He criticised the BJP for opposing the Office of Profit Bill in Parliament and piloting it in the Assembly and getting it passed. To a question on the complaint filed before the Election Commission by the Congress demanding disqualification of Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy from the Assembly for allegedly filing a false affidavit about his assets and liabilities during the 2004 Assembly elections, Mr. Somashekar said if Mr. Kumaraswamy had deliberately lied about his assets and liabilities the Election Commission should not hesitate to take action against him.

At the same time, Mr. Somashekar wanted the Election Commission to dispose of similar complaints filed against different persons at the earliest and said the commission was delaying the disposal of these complaints.

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