Bengaluru Central University drops Governor from event guest list

BENGALURU:  Bengaluru Central University, which is organising a formal inauguration of the varsity on March 7, has decided not to invite the Governor for the event even though Vajubhai Vala is the chancellor of state universities.In the official invitation printed  by the university, it says Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will inaugurate the programme which will be presided by state Higher Education Minister Basavaraja Rayareddi. Interestingly, people who are invited to the event involve members of Parliament and Rajya Sabha, nine state ministers, legislative council members, Bengaluru Mayor, corporators, several bureaucrats and alumni of Central college.

When asked about it, Vice-chancellor of Bengaluru Central University Prof Japhet termed this as a “quasi-political and quasi-academic event”.Japhet said, “We decided about this event only 15 days ago and discussed about the dates with the Chief Minister. The CM confirmed the dates. Had we approached the Governor for the same, there would be a difference of dates and managing an event where the Governor is invited would have many issues to deal with.”

Though it is a protocol to extend the invitation to the Chancellor, Bengaluru Central University authorities defended their act even though they had not approached the governor or Raj Bhavan officials. The V-C went on to add, “Considering the previous instances at Bangalore University where the Governor skipped events even after being invited, we decided not to approach him. We will, however, definitely invite him in June when we will organise another event.”

Meanwhile, the V-C said that not inviting the governor is not a big deal. 
He added, “As this university is formed by the state government and as some ministers have promised to get land for the varsity, it is necessary to invite them.”Another reason given by the university authorities for not inviting the Governor is difficulty in accommodating all politicians on stage if the Governor is there. “If we invite the Governor, then we cannot accommodate all the guests on stage. We should stick to a limited number of seats on stage,” a university official said.Also, the varsity is spending at least `25 lakh for this event despite a fund crunch due to expansion of the varsity.

Central varsity to not comply with UGC norms
With the transfer process starting for staffers between the three universities - Bangalore University, Bengaluru Central University and Bengaluru North University - Bengaluru Central University might not adhere to University Grants Commission norms. University officials said with many teaching posts being shifted to the parent Bangalore University, there will be shortage of teaching staff at Bengaluru Central University and so it cannot adhere to UGC norms.