Karnataka-run agricultural college students to take out rally on June 19

Bengaluru: “We are done pleading for our cause. We need justice and we will protest till our demands are met,” said Ramesha V.A., an agricultural student-activist. Nearly 1,500 students from state-run agricultural universities in the state are taking out a rally from Town Hall to Freedom Park on June 19 to draw the attention of the authorities to the “menace of private agriculture universities”.

Private players are starting such institutions to get large tracts of land in crowded Bengaluru, Ramesha alleged. These private institutions do not adhere to the
guidelines set by the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) and are making use of a loophole that puts them under state legislation, the student leader said. They also disregard the Swaminathan Committee report, which mandates that all private colleges should come under state universities, the leaders said.

The ICAR makes it mandatory for such colleges to have at least 75-100 acres of land for research and cultivation purposes. These colleges also charge a much higher fee as compared to state universities. Lecturers at these colleges too are not qualified, alleged Ramesha.

The protesting students demand a government council to regulate private colleges or stop the affiliation if requirements are not met. The affiliation to these private colleges has been postponed after a petition was filed by Ramesha two years ago.

He has approached government authorities, the President and Prime Minister to push for their demands. “The ICAR said that they cannot take any action as a law has to be passed to govern these private universities,” Ramesha said.