Bengaluru, March 6 (IANS) Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday, while presenting the Budget in the Legislative Assembly, said the state government would implement the controversial Rohith Vemula Act to prevent “academic and social harassment” of students based on caste in all government, private and deemed universities.

The Rohith Vemula (Prevention of Exclusion or Injustice) Bill, 2025, aims to provide a safer environment for marginalised students, making Karnataka a pioneer in legally addressing institutional caste bias. The Act is named after Rohith Vemula, a PhD scholar at the University of Hyderabad who died by suicide on January 17, 2016.

He further announced that the government also intends to conduct student union elections in colleges and universities to foster leadership, responsibility and democratic values among students.

As part of efforts to expand higher education institutions, the government will provide 25 acres of land to establish a private Vachana University in Basavakalyan.

To strengthen Government First Grade Colleges and polytechnics, establish centres of excellence and enhance research capabilities, the government is implementing the Karnataka Higher Education Transformation Project with assistance from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) at a cost of Rs 2,500 crore. Under the project, 40 Government First Grade Colleges and 11 polytechnics will be developed as model institutions, he stated.

The government will also establish nine centres of excellence with ADB assistance to promote entrepreneurship and a startup culture among students, CM Siddaramaiah stated.

The CM said approval has been granted to fill 2,000 teaching posts in Government First Grade Colleges, engineering colleges, polytechnics and the University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering (UVCE). The recruitment process will be completed soon. In addition, 1,000 teaching posts in public universities will be rationalised and filled in phases, he said.

To improve facilities for women students, basic infrastructure will be provided in 25 government degree colleges, three polytechnics and three engineering colleges where more than 50 per cent of the students are women. A total of Rs 31 crore has been allocated for this purpose, with Rs one crore earmarked for each institution, CM Siddaramaiah said.

Furniture procurement and repair or renovation works in 50 Government First Grade Colleges with more than 1,000 students will be undertaken over the next three years for Rs 100 crore, he said.

The government will establish new Government First Grade Colleges in Chadachan in Vijayapura district, Belagavi Rural and the Narasimharaja constituency in Mysuru city. Another First Grade College will be set up in Maski in Raichur district with macro funding from the Kalyana Karnataka Regional Development Board (KKRDB), he stated.

Under the Kalyana Karnataka Area Development Board, residential First Grade Colleges will be established in Nimbaraga in Kalaburagi district, Kakkera in Yadgir district, Ambamath in Raichur district and Bevoor in Koppal district for Rs 18 crore each, he announced.

In a move to align education with emerging industry demands, 15 new courses will be introduced in 11 government polytechnics and the Government Engineering College in Chitradurga. The courses will include Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Cloud Computing, Mining Engineering and Automation Engineering, he stated.

The Chief Minister also said the state government has already provided Rs 100 crore out of the proposed Rs 500 crore project to develop the University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering (UVCE) on the lines of an IIT. Another Rs 100 crore will be allocated for the project in the current year.

In addition, women guest lecturers working in Government First Grade Colleges, polytechnics and engineering colleges will be provided 90 days of maternity leave from the next academic year, Siddaramaiah announced.

–IANS

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