Officials in the dark over closure move

BANGALORE: The Karnataka government may have decided to close down the directorate of collegiate education but the latter is not aware of any such move.
"We are not aware of it. The government has not initiated any discussion or interaction with us and there has been no formal communication so far," sources told The Times of India.
Higher education minister G.Parameshwara recently announced that the government will close down the directorate as it is involved in mere administrative work and hinted the staff would be relocated.
A team would be sent to Tamil Nadu, which has already closed the collegiate department, to study the impact of closure and submit a report.
The decision has triggered opposition from government and aided colleges, which feel a state-wide debate is needed before implementing it.
The argument in support of the directorate''s closure — that with universities managing colleges, it has become redundant — has also been shot down.
"With universities unable to manage their affairs, how can they be expected to take on the burden of government and aided colleges? It would lead to further chaos," Karnataka Government College Lecturers'' Association president D.Y. Raddar said.
The government assures that the staff would be suitably relocated to different universities once it is scrapped and therefore employment-related worries are unfounded. Can the universities absorb such a huge number of employees, wonder the staff.
Besides the directorate''s staff, 17,139 teaching and non-teaching staff are employed in government and aided colleges.
Established in 1960, the directorate administers and manages 160 government general degree colleges, one government law college, 292 aided private general colleges and eight private aided law colleges.
It does not administer private unaided colleges as the universities directly monitor their functioning, officials explained. Headquartered in Bangalore, the department has six regional offices.
"The directorate takes care of the postings, staff pattern, promotions and transfers. In private aided colleges, the role is limited to stipulating regulations about staff recruitment as government provides grants. We also fix pay scales and revise them depending on UGC guidelines," they said.