Almost 15 years after its establishment, the Karnataka State Dr. Gangubai Hangal Music and Performing Arts University in Mysuru is taking baby steps to spread its footprints in a bid to carve a niche for itself.
The Vice Chancellor of the University Mr. Nagesh Bettakote told The Hindu that the cash-strapped varsity had entered into Memorandum of Understanding with various institutes and colleges offering Fine Art courses and have granted them affiliation.
The statutes of the varsity was recently approved by the Governor who is the Chancellor and it paves way for recognising colleges and institutes for granting the degree of the university. ‘’It is similar to the affiliation in any conventional university and recently as many as five institutions of repute from different parts of the State signed the MoU and they will conduct the classes and the varsity will award the degree,’’ said Mr. Bettakote.
“In addition, 10 other institutions have come forward to be affiliated with us and the MoU will be signed in due course. As a result, the number of affiliated colleges will go up to nearly 30 across Karnataka and the amount raised by way of affiliation fee will come in handy for the varsity to function to some extent,’’ said Prof. Bettakote.
The varsity, which was confined to Lakshmipuram in Mysuru, is now spreading its wings and will leave an imprint across the State, he added, while expressing confidence that within the next few years it will make great strides.
In addition, there are nearly 20,000 school students learning Fine Arts like music and dance and the music varsity has now been vested with the responsibility of conducting examination for them for which the process has already commenced, according to Bettakote.
The University is also a centre for D.Lit. and there are 72 senior scholars and artistes who have enrolled for it and a few have submitted their thesis which is being evaluated. This has given the varsity an intellectual heft and recognition, he added.
Not out of the woods
But, not withstanding the recent positive developments, the university is still not out of the woods. The fledgling university which is strapped for funds and lacks a full-fledged campus of its own, is functioning entirely with guest faculty and none of the 27 posts sanctioned at the time of its inception has been filled up by the government.
Though it is entirely dependent on the government for grants without which it cannot function, the funds have dried up and the guest lecturers have not been paid since three years. Higher Education Minister Dr. M.C. Sudhakar is yet to pay a visit to the varsity since he assumed charge.
A 6.5 acre of plot was allotted to the varsity at Sardar Vallabhai Patel Nagar abutting the Outer Ring Road but there are no funds for developing the campus or infrastructure. The varsity requires at least ₹50 crore to meet all its expenditure, including salary to the staff, and there are concerns over fund allocation as the government has to mop up resources for its five guarantee schemes.
