Bifurcation of Bangalore University soon?

BANGALORE: The Bangalore University (BU) might be bifurcated sooner than expected.Sources told Express that talks on bifurcation of BU are on and the actual process may see the light of day within the term of Vice- Chancellor Dr N Prabhu Dev, who is opposing this move. The first thoughts of separating BU came in 2009, when a report by N Rudraiah Committee was submitted to the then Higher Education Minister Arvind Limbavali.While N Rudraiah’s report talked about trifurcation of BU, another committee was formed by the Higher Education Council to look at it alternatively.Bangalore University has more than 650 colleges affiliated to it.”Trifurcation of the university would be too expensive a process, which suggested that each of the three units covered 200 or so colleges.Some of the Syndicate members suggested a bifurcation, with only 2 divisions, each covering 300 colleges,” said K Narahari, a member of the second committee formed by the Higher Education Council.According to sources, BU is likely to be bifurcated into two universities - Bangalore South and Bangalore North.Narahari’s report suggested that Bangalore South University should cover around 290 colleges in Ramanagaram, Bangalore (South) and Anekal.On the other hand, Bangalore North University will cover around 320 colleges in K R Puram, Bangalore (North), Chikballapur and Kolar districts.“In my report, I recommended that the centre for Bangalore South should be Jnana Bharathi, while Central College should be the centre for Bangalore North,” said Narahari.“Rudraiah’s report was criticised that it was number-based. Our report looked at infrastructure as well. As we know, Jnana Bharathi and Central College premises are spacious and have good infrastructure,” he observed.Prof K V Acharya, a Syndicate member, said that decentralisation would facilitate an efficient management system. “According to National Knowledge Commission (NKC), the country needs 1,500 more universities. This will increase the percentage of students going to universities to 35% from the existing 12-13%,” he said.Prof Acharya added that “perverted efforts” were on to reduce the number of colleges affiliated under BU to reduce the need for bifurcation. A source told The New Indian Express that even CM D V Sadananda Gowda has shown interest in the bifurcation of BU. When contacted, Vice- Chancellor Dr N Prabhu Dev refused to talk about it. “Nobody has discussed anything with me and I do not know anything,” he said.