New panel to look into BU bifurcation

Times News Network
Bengaluru: Even as four reports on the bifurcation of Bangalore University gather dust, the cabinet on Wednesday decided to set up a sub-committee headed by higher education minister RV Deshpande to take a decision.
“We’ve decided to revisit the issue and have a fresh report,” said law minister TB Jayachandra, a member of the sub-committee, after the cabinet meeting.
A committee headed by former vice-chancellor N Rudraiah had recommended the university be split into three. Another panel headed by former MLC Narahari had recommended bifurcation, and the third expert committee formed by then higher education minister CT Ravi also favoured that.
Jayachandra said the major reason for bifurcation is that there are over 600 colleges under its umbrella with about 3.5 lakh students. “Experts felt the number is too high for it to be managed efficiently,” he added.
Bathroom bhagya
With an eye on the panchayat elections, the government has mooted a new populist scheme, Bachchalu (bathroom) Bhagya, to curb open bathing in rural areas. This is on the lines of the previous UPA's government flagship scheme that funded construction of toilets to curb open defecation.
The cabinet on Wednesday approved the scheme to construct 1.5 lakh bathrooms for Rs 20,000 each in the next one year. Jayachandra didn’t clarify whether the government will take up the construction on PPP model or simply grant subsidies to individuals who apply for it.
Guv gets personal staff from Gujarat
Governor Vajubhai Vala has handpicked his staff from Gujarat to run his office in Bengaluru. The cabinet approved a proposal from the governor’s office to appoint two retired officials from Gujarat as his personal staff. Harsukh Rai, retired additional secretary of the Gujarat government, is his special officer and Tejas Bhatti, retired data-entry operator, Gujarat Maritime Board, his personal secretary.
Arkavathy haunts CM
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his colleagues reportedly discussed at length the implications of the Arkavathy denotification scam ahead of the legislature session starting February 2.
Worried that their deliberations would be leaked to the media, Siddaramaiah took the unusual step of asking his senior officers to leave the cabinet meeting. “Please leave, we need to discuss an important issue,” CM reportedly told them.
Siddaramaiah discussed the intricacies of the issues on hand and asked his ministers to be assertive in their replies if the opposition raise the Arkavathy issue in the session.