Bangalore University syndicate members resign; say VC misled govt

Two members of the Bangalore University syndicate handed in their resignations on Monday to protest the withdrawal of two syndicate members' nominations by the government without citing any reasons, reports said.

Two members of the Bangalore University syndicate have decided to hand in their resignation letters in protest against the removal of two other members by the government, without citing any reasons, reports said.

Bangalore University syndicate's members go for mass resignation after govt removes nomination of two members without citing any reasons. 

The Bangalore University, which is responsible directly and indirectly for the smooth administration of the 650 affiliated colleges under it, has been in policy paralysis for nearly a month now.

The two members - Prem Sohanlal and Govindaraju's - nominations were withdrawn last week, and two new members have been nominated in their place since. A report said that the two members are said to have been removed because of their involvement in recent protests when the Vice-Chancellor (VC) post was vacant for around 20 days.

Reports said that their removal led to much speculation as the government allowed four other members, including a close relative of the higher education minister, to continue.

To this, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the voluntary organisation RSS, also criticised the move, calling it “suspicious”.

The remaining two members of the syndicate, T V Raju and Gopinath, have promised to follow, by handing in their resignations in condemnation of the Higher Education Department's move.

They addressed a press conference in Bengaluru on Monday and said that they will submit their resignations to the Principal Secretary of the Higher Education Department.

The members, who were nominated to the syndicate by the state government, also cited that the former VC Prof K R Venugopal prevented progressive work at the University and misguided the government, reports said.

Demanding a high-level inquiry into the irregularities at the university, one of the syndicate members whose nomination was withdrawn last week told a news website that he felt he has been removed because he questioned the alleged misconduct of the VC and objected to releasing some university funds for construction activities at an autonomous institution.

The former VC has several accusations reigned against him by the members, who alleged in reports that Prof K R Venugopal misled the government by providing them incorrect information. The members told Deccan Herald that the VC conveyed to the government that certain projects were approved by the syndicate when they weren't.

According to a report, the members have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, State Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and the Governor demanding an inquiry be held to account for the irregularities.

Recently, over a hundred faculty members and representatives of students’ associations protested outside the varsity, demanding that an interim or permanent VC be appointed at the earliest.