Annoyed by the terms and conditions imposed by the Central University of Karnataka for holding the 75th Republic Day meeting at the university, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister and Kalaburagi in-charge Priyank Kharge has said that the university administration has insulted the Constitution by criminalising democratically elected people’s representatives.
Speaking at a meeting organised by the Central University’s SCs/STs Employees Welfare Association (SEWA) on the university campus on Monday, Mr. Kharge read out some of the conditions imposed by the university Registrar and added that he will take up the issue with the Chief Secretary of Karnataka.
In a letter to SEWA, the Registrar has imposed a few conditions such as the programme shall be confined to the employees of the university and that the academic activities shall not be disturbed and asked the organisers to ensure strict compliance with the code of conduct of the employees.
The Registrar also said that the direction has been issued with the utmost consideration for maintaining the academic integrity and security of the institution.
“I am surprised to see more police personnel than faculty members here. Aland MLA B.R. Patil is a duly elected public representative. He is a Cabinet rank legislator. He is a political advisor to the Chief Minister. Are you insulting the government of Karnataka? I am a three-time Cabinet Minister. I am the Minister for Panchayat Raj and Rural Development. I am a Minister of Information Technology and Biotechnology and Electronics. I am the head of the fourth largest technology cluster in the world. Unfortunately, the Registrar thinks that all of us are not maintaining the academic integrity and security of the institution. I am going to ask the Chief Secretary to write to the Vice-Chancellor. Is he insulting the elected government? The authority we have is given by the Constitution and these people [university administration] are saying that we are a security threat,” he said.
Recalling the prolonged fight by the people of the region for the establishment of the university in Kalaburagi, Mr. Kharge said that the university was established to ensure not only to have state-of-the-art infrastructure and quality education but also to develop scientific temperament.
“When I came to the campus after a long time, I see that you don’t have money even to paint your walls. This is not the institute that AICC chief Mallikarjun Kharge dreamt of, Mr. Patil fought for and activist R.K. Hudgi blocked roads for,” he said.
Mr. Patil said that the Vice-Chancellor and the Registrar lacked the minimum common sense to abide by the Constitution. They have intentionally escaped from the campus upon our arrival, he charged.
“When I visited the campus in the past, the Vice-Chancellor was not even ready to meet me. We had a long struggle for the establishment of this university. The State government has offered a lot of support in running this university. Central University Vice-Chancellor Battu Satyanarayana is more interested in running RSS Shaka than focusing on academic activities. The university is a public property and there should not be any promotion of religion,” he said.
