Ex-PM H.D. Deve Gowda urges Centre to fund Mysore, Dharwad universities

Former prime minister and Rajya Sabha MP H.D. Deve Gowda has urged the Union government to provide funds to sustain the Mysore and Dharwad universities in Karnataka, citing financial distress.

The JD(S) patriarch, on Tuesday, during his speech in the Upper House of the Parliament, stated that the two universities were struggling to pay the teachers' salaries owing to lack of funds.

Deve Gowda who emphasised on the "shared responsibility" of the Centre and the states in supporting higher education, said, "Education is a concurrent subject, and both the Centre and the States must ensure that institutions do not suffer due to lack of funds," he said.

Highlighting the historical significance of Mysore University, which was established in 1916 as the sixth university in India, Deve Gowda pointed out that it has played a crucial role in shaping higher education in the country. “The university has contributed significantly to research and teaching across disciplines, hosting key events like the Indian Science Congress. However, despite its prestigious status, the university is now facing a financial crisis, struggling to retain faculty and pay salaries. Similarly, Dharwad University, which serves north Karnataka, is facing severe financial constraints," he said.

"Many teachers' posts are vacant. And the existing teachers have not been given the salary. The state government does not have sufficient resources to address this crisis alone," he added.

Drawing from his own experience as a former schoolteacher, Deve Gowda stressed the importance of education, particularly in rural areas. He recalled his tenure as the chief minister of Karnataka, when he had appointed 1.56 lakh women teachers at one go to strengthen the state's education system.

The veteran leader has flagged the dearth of funds for higher education in the state at a time when the Siddaramaiah government is mulling over either shutting down or merging at least nine new universities citing fund crunch. Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, in his reply to the assembly during the ongoing legislature session, stated that the government intended to merge the new universities with their parent universities.

Amid protests by the opposition parties over the proposal to shut down the universities, Shivakumar, who heads a Cabinet sub-committee tasked with reviewing the status of public universities in the state, said that the teachers were also reluctant to be posted to the new varsities – Koppal, Bagalkot, Haveri, Kodagu, Hassan, Chamarajanagar, Nrupathunga, Mandya and the Maharani cluster.