Teachers Transfer Amendment Bill passed

BENGALURU: Despite protest from elected representatives of the coalition government, the Teachers Transfer Amendment Bill 2019 was passed in the Legislative Council on Thursday. Not just BJP, even members of the council from JD(S) and Congress parties expressed their concerns over the amendments to the existing Act. BJP members protested by standing in the well of the house.

While senior Congress leader SR Patil said that amendments proposed in the Act will encourage agents and middlemen, JD(S) leader Puttanna said that by amending the Act, the government has got the authority to use discretionary power to fill vacancies. “This will collapse the entire goal of counselling transfers,” he added. BJP MLC Arun Shahapur said, “The government using discretionary power to transfer teachers will encourage corruption.” Following the opposition, the government passed the Bill.

Nod to Bill on Cluster Universities

Meanwhile, even as the Common Universities act is pending before for approval, the government passed the Karnataka Cluster Universities (Amendment) Bill 2019.Cluster university proposal was included even in the Common Universities Act. Higher education minister GT Devegowda said, “It was not necessary to include Cluster Universities in the Common Universities Act.” Now, two cluster universities will come into existence: Mandya University (Mandya) and Maharani Cluster University (Bengaluru).

Internship with govt

The cabinet has also approved a proposal to offer internships to research scholars and postgraduate degree holders to work with different departments of governance. Interested students may apply online and choose one option from 27 subject groups. The internship will be unpaid, but hopes to give the government an opportunity to induce innovation in administration.