The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Common law planned for private universities

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Sunday, Jan 30, 2011
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Common law planned for private universities

Krishnaprasad

It will be on the lines of KSU Act

The Government has so far permitted two private universities under two separate enactments
Government against location of private varsities only in and around Bangalore

Bangalore: With many corporate establishments and groups of educational institutions showing interest in starting private universities in Karnataka, the State Government is planning to enact a separate law, called the Karnataka Private Universities Act, before allowing any new private university to be instituted.

The proposed legislation will be on the lines of the Karnataka State Universities (KSU) Act, which has become a common Act for all conventional universities in the State since 2000.

Sources in the Higher Education Department told The Hindu that a proposal in this regard would be sent to the Karnataka State Higher Education Council for deliberation and preparation of draft legislation.

Two universities

Till now, the State Government has permitted two private universities — Azim Premji University and Alliance University — under two separate enactments. “Separate Act for each private university will again result in problems and issues that cropped up in the process of regulating the State universities when they were functioning under independent legislations before a common legislation — KSU Act — was enacted,” said a senior official of the Department.

The official pointed out that proposal to formulate rules for establishment and governance of private universities was before the Government as early as 2004-05, but it did not take a concrete shape even after establishment of two private universities.

Growing need

“The need for formulating regulations for private universities was felt as we started receiving proposals to set up private universities, mainly around Bangalore, from prominent corporate groups and educational institutions in the past three years,” the official said.

Vellore Institute of Technology Trust, MKR Group-Laureate Education Inc, Arka Eduservices, Bharat Forge and Rai University, were among others that had already approached the State Government expressing their interest in establishment of private university, the official added.

As per the draft regulation for private universities formulated recently, the Government was not in favour of allowing private universities to concentrate only in and around Bangalore. The draft regulation proposed provisions for reviewing of private universities once in five years, preventing them from becoming commercial ventures, and ensuring that each private university specialised in different fields of education, etc.

The Government was in favour of enacting a comprehensive legislation, instead of framing mere regulations, as it would bring uniformity in governance of all private universities, the officer said, and added that the Act would have provision to include separate chapter for each private university.

Better option

The official pointed out that a separate legislation for private universities would be a better option as the Union Government was planning to allow entry of foreign educational institutions into the country as the proposed Foreign Educational Institutions (Regulation of Entry and Operations) Bill is being hotly discussed.

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