The Minister for Higher Education in Karnataka, Basavaraj Rayareddi, has outlined his vision and 100-day action plan to improve higher education in the state. This includes introducing a Uniform Education Act for the 23 state universities, declaring exam results by specific deadlines, and developing a $500 million master plan to improve infrastructure at higher education institutions. The minister also aims to establish new institutions like IIT Dharwad, expand existing programs, and recruit more faculty members to address current shortages. Overall, the action plan focuses on bringing greater accountability, transparency, and efficiency to higher education in Karnataka.

1. Special Interview
30 September 2016 digitalLEARNING
Within one month after taking over the charge, Karnataka’s Minister for
Higher Education Basavaraj Rayareddi is addressing the problems
slowdowning the augmentation of the higher education in the State. To
speedup the development, the minister has come out with 100 days of action
plan for his 20-point agenda. He shared his priorities, including ambitious
Master Plan for the development of higher education, in an exclusive
interview with T. Radhakrishna of Elets News Network (ENN)
More efficiency in
higher education is
need of the hour
What is the mandate given to you
by Karnataka Chief Minister?
I am thankful to our CM for inducting
me into his cabinet. I have been given a
freehand by the CM to do good work in
higher education. I apprised him of my
100 days of action plan for my 20-point
agenda in the Department of Higher
Education. Out of Rs 85,375-crore an-
nual budget for 2016-17 fiscal, the State
has allocated Rs 23,000-crore for the
education (primary, secondary, higher
education, etc) in Karnataka. The num-
bers show the commitment of the State
Government. The size of students is
one crore, which is equivalent to 1/6th
population of Karnataka.
Kindly share your vision about
higher education. How did this
idea evolve?
I am aware of the fact that the
higher education system in Karnataka
is demoralised with inside politics
and dishonesty methods. We cannot
blame it (on anyone) as everyone is
responsible for this. The need of the
hour is to strengthen the education
system collectively with a clear focus on
strengthening accountability, transpar-
ency, productivity and efficiency. After
taking over the charge as the Minister,
I held discussions with all the heads of

2. digitallearning.eletsonline.com
31digitalLEARNING September 2016
the department. Then I felt that there’s
a need for streamlining the system for
students’ benefit. Accordingly, I have
come out with a 20-point agenda,
which is being pursued for next 100
days, from August 1, 2016 onwards.
Statutory Discipline
To bring in order in the education
system, the Department is working on
several initiatives.
One, a Uniform Education Act for
all 23 State Universities is proposed, for
which Karnataka Governor Vajubhai
Rudabhai Vala, who is the chancel-
lor of the State-run Universities, has
given consent to it. Today, coordination
among all the universities has become a
major concern as each State University
has its own Education Act. With the
introduction of new legislation, statu-
tory discipline comes in place for better
functioning of the universities.
Two, taking cognisance of the
hardships faced by students each year
because of delay in announcement of
examination results, an order is issued
to all State Universities to declare the
examination results for UG courses
before May 31 and for PG courses
before June 30. Failure to adhere to the
deadline will result in disciplinary action
against the respective vice-chancellors,
registrars and examination controllers.
An order to this effect was issued by
the Department in August and it will
come into effect from this academic
year. I feel it is the responsibility of the
university officials to take everyone into
confidence and ensure that they follow
the new common calendar of events.
Three, ahead of the imminent divi-
sion of Bangalore University (BU), a
new committee has been constituted
headed by Dr S.A. Kori, Executive
Director, Karnataka State Higher Edu-
cation Council, to ease the process of
trifurcation. The decision was taken af-
ter convening a meeting with represent-
atives of the BU and special officers
of the two new universities, set to be
carved out of the BU. I acknowledged
the significant delay in the process
and asked the committee and the two
special officers to give an estimate and
requirements of the two new universi-
ties. I have directed them to ensure that
there are no hiccups in the functioning
of the three varsities.
Four, to improve basic facilities at
higher education institutions, a master
plan for the development of higher
The Cabinet
Minister’s 20-point
agenda includes
bringing in a
legislation to
ensure Uniform
Rules and
Syllabus for all
23 State-run
Universities and
also an ambitious
US$ 500 million
Master Plan for
the development
of higher
education in
Karnataka.
State Universities
● Bangalore Univeristy,
Bangalore
● Davanagere University,
Davanagere
● Gulbarga University,
Gulbarga
● Kannada University,
Hampi
● Karnataka Folklore
University, Haveri
● Karnataka State G.H
University of Music &
Performing Arts, Mysore
● Karnataka State Law
University, Hubli
● Karnataka State Open
University, Mysore
● Karnataka State
Women’s University,
Bijapur
● Karnataka University,
Dharwad
● Kuvempu University,
Shimoga
● Mangalore University,
Mangalore
● Rajiv Gandhi University
of Health Science, Bidar
● Rani Channamma
University, Belagavi
● Sanskrit University,
Bangalore
● Tumkur University,
Tumkur
● University of Agricultural
& Horticultural Sciences,
Shimoga
● University of Agricultural
Sciences, Bagalkot
● University of Agricultural
Sciences, Bangalore
● University of Agricultural
Sciences, Dharwad
● University of Agricultural
Sciences, Raichur
● University of Mysore,
Mysore
● Vijayanagara Sri
Krishnadevaraya
University, Bellary
● Vishweshwaraiah
Technology University,
Belagavi
education in Karnataka is being pur-
sued. The State will seek an assistance
of $500 million from the World Bank
for this ambitious plan. A survey had
already been done in 412 government
colleges on basic facilities. The final
report will be ready very soon. I felt
that the higher education in Karnataka
is lacking in quality and quantity despite
Bangalore being known as knowledge
capital of the country. The required
(push) for the sector has not been ac-
corded because of fiscal constraints. In
order to overcome this, the master plan
is being planned.
New Schools
Plans are afoot to open new schools
and introduce new courses. Karnataka
has expedited the process of operations
of IIT, Dharwad by registering 470
acres of land in its name. The Institute
is ready for official launch in August
by Union Minister for HRD Prakash
Javadekar and Karnataka CM Siddara-
maiah. A total of 120 students have
enrolled into the IIT, Dharwad. Out of
120 students, seven are girls and 10 are
from Karnataka.
Other proposed institutions include
Environmental Research Institute
– ERI (at Bellary district); Energy
Institute - EI (at Chidradurga district);
new IIIT (at Raichur district); and Ban-

3. Special Interview
32 September 2016 digitalLEARNING
galore School of Economics – BSE (at
Bangalore Urban district). Karnataka is
gifted with mineral resources. As sug-
gested by the Apex Courts (Supreme
Court and High Court of Karnataka) in
their judgements that there is need for
protecting the environment from the
unscientific utilisation of the mineral
wealth, the proposed ERI will facilitate
the needful knowledge and expertise
to tackle the situation. There is a need
for establishment of BSE in Bangalore,
which was once regarded as capital of
Banking Sector with the presence of
seven National Banks in the city.
Keeping the growth of Karnataka
and its needs in mind, we are plan-
ning to commence an Advanced Flying
School. We are open to collaborations
in this regard. We all know that Kempe-
gowda International Airport is fastest
growing airport in India. The Ancillary
Industry needs to be given impetus
to meet the growing demands of the
airport. In this regard, the support of
academic and R&D is important. The
proposed school will facilitate quali-
fied pilots for the air traffic industry.
Similarly, we are planning to commence
railway engineering courses in the State.
There is a great demand for talent with
railway engineering domain knowledge
in the State as Karnataka has ongoing
projects of laying new railway tracks up
to 4,000 km. The demand for new rail-
way tracks is expected to grow further.
The introduction of new courses in
railway engineering will help the State
in providing qualified engineers.
Conferences
The Department is planning to organ-
ise Karnataka State Vice Chancellors’
Summit in September and World In-
novation/Creative Forum in November
Karnataka Knowledge Commission
recommendations?
The Karnataka Knowledge Commis-
sion (KKC), an important constituent
of the Government of Karnataka,
came into existence in 2008. It aims to
enable the development of the vibrant
knowledge based society in the State.
It is headed by Dr K Kasturirangan, a
former member of Rajya Sabha. The
members of the Commission are drawn
from diverse fields like education, sci-
ence and technology, agriculture and in-
dustry. The Commission is independent
of the Government and works with and
for the Government in policy making
and implementation. The context and
development of the state of Karna-
taka is paramount for the work of the
KKC. Presently, the KKC has identi-
fied six primary focus areas. Each of
these areas has a pivotal role to play in
transforming Karnataka into a vibrant
knowledge society. These are: Literacy
and School Education, Vocational Edu-
cation, Higher Education, Humanities,
Social Sciences, Law and Management,
Libraries and Knowledge Networks,
and Health Sector. We are committed
to the KKC’s recommendations.n
this year. The objective of the Summit
is to ensure quality education for Under
Graduate and Post Graduate courses
in Karnataka. All Vice Chancellors of
23 State-run universities have been
asked to submit their vision documents
before the summit. The proposed
forum is planned on the lines of World
Economic Forum and the World Social
Forum. The last edition of the World
Innovative/Creative Forum was held
in Geneva, Switzerland. Karnataka
Chief Minster will be the chief patron,
while myself and the Director, Indian
Institute of Science, Bangalore, will be
the patron and co-patron respectively.
The forum would be the first step in
galvanising the R&D facilities across
the State, mobilising the entrepreneurs
towards innovation and focusing the
higher education institutions across the
state towards creativity.
New Recruitments
Our degree colleges are facing shortage
of faculty (Assistant Professors) and
Principals. To fill the gap, the Depart-
ment is in the process of recruit-
ing 2,160 Assistant Professors and
principals for vacant positions. Efforts
are also on to address the problems of
14,000 guest lecturers working in the
State. The Department is also trying to
facelift B.Ed programmes and Science
Education for strengthening the quality
standards.
What’s your plan about improv-
ing quality of infrastructure at the
educational institutions?
We are working on improving the qual-
ity of infrastructure at all education in-
stitutions. With increasing quality stand-
ards, many Degree Colleges will get
accreditation of National Assessment
and Accreditation Council (NAAC)
and compli-
ance of All
India Council
for Techni-
cal Education
(AICTE).
This has been
a continu-
ous process
in achieving
quality and
standards.
What is your
view about
Higher Education
Institutions in
Karnataka
No. of Universities – 50
State Universities - 17
Private Universities - 10
Deemed - 23
Polytechnical Colleges - 305
Government Colleges - 81
Aided Colleges - 44
Private Colleges - 180
Number of Colleges - 2992
Govt Colleges - 411
Aided Colleges - 321
B.Ed Colleges - 433
University Constituent
Colleges - 24
Private Colleges - 1803
Engineering Colleges - 207
Govt Colleges - 14
Aided Colleges - 11
Pvt Colleges- 182