Karnataka: Deadlock over, new vice chancellors get Governor Vajubhai Vala's nod
BENGALURU: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s visit to Raj Bhavan on Monday evening yielded quick results with Governor Vajubhai Vala appointing vice chancellors for six universities, an issue which was hanging fire for a year.
The Chief Minister held a prolonged closed-door meeting with Mr Vala for almost two hours in a bid to clarify the rationale behind some decisions taken by the state government recently.
He was accompanied by higher education minister R.V. Deshpande, but the minister left after some time. One of the contentious issues was appointment of vice chancellors to six universities with Mr Vala returning the files along with a note seeking more clarifications. Mr Siddaramaiah and Mr Deshpande reportedly explained about administrative problems plaguing these universities in the absences of fulltime vice chancellors, according to official sources.
A press release issued by Raj Bhavan later ended the suspense over the appointment of vice chancellors for six universities. The list of new vice chancellors includes Prof Pramod B Gai (Karnataka University, Dharwad), Dr S B Hosamani (Rani Channamma University, Belagavi), Dr S R Niranjan (Gulbarga University, Kalaburagi), Prof Jogan Shankar (Kuvempu University, Shivamogga), Dr M S Subhas (Vijayanagar Srikrishnadevaraya University, Ballari) and Prof Padma Shekhar (Karnataka Sanskrit University, Bengaluru).
Sources said the Chief Minister also discussed about issues related to Karnataka Public Service Commission with Mr Vala. Recently the government recommended suspension of some members of KPSC for their alleged involvement in recruitment scandal. The Governor, however, had returned the file to the government, seeking more clarifications on the proposed suspension. The issue of appointment of Chairman and members of KPSC also figured during the discussions, sources added.
Earlier, the Governor refused to sign the ordinance pertaining to trifurcation of BBMP, and suggested that the state amend the KMC Act instead of adopting the ordinance route. The Governor had also sought a report from the chief secretary on the lottery scam before the state government took a decision to hand over the case to CBI.
No rift with Mr Vala: CM
Emerging from the meeting with Governor Vajubhai Vala on Monday, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said: “There are no differences between the Governor and the state government. The governor had sought clarification on some issues, we have given the required clarification to him. There was no discussion on the KPSC appointments but Mr Vala sought details on the appointment of vice chancellors of six universities. We have given the details which he had sought.”
