Yielding to pressure by farm sciences’ students, who protested for 22 days demanding scrapping of private universities offering agricultural courses, the State government has decided to amend the Karnataka Agriculture University Act to prevent such universities and colleges.
Announcements in this regard were made in the State legislature on Monday by Agriculture Minister N.H. Shivashankara Reddy and Higher Education Minister G.T. Deve Gowda.
Mr. Reddy told the Legislative Council that the government is working out modalities to put a blanket ban on private universities or private colleges from offering agricultural courses. “If possible, we will table the amendment in the ongoing session itself,” he said. He was responding to BJP member N. Ravi Kumar, who raised the issue of students’ strike. Although they have temporarily withdrawn the strike, they had boycotted examinations demanding the closure of Rai Technological University, a private university, Mr. Kumar said.