UVCE fund crunch: Karnataka government offers ₹35 crore, extends ties with BU for a year

UVCE was a constituent college of Bangalore University. In 2022, UVCE became an autonomous institution, but Karnataka government did not provide adequate funds for its operations

After outrage from students, political parties and various public representatives, the Karnataka government has given approval to release ₹35 crore to the University of Visvesvaraya College of Engineering (UVCE) in Bengaluru.

At the same time, the government has tied UVCE to Bangalore University for one more year.

UVCE was a constituent college of Bangalore University since 1964. UVCE became an autonomous institution on March 25, 2022.

Despite giving the autonomous status to the UVCE, the government had not provided adequate funds for its operations. The capital and operational expenditure of the UVCE is around ₹47.69 crore per annum. The Board of Governors (BoG) of the institution had submitted a proposal to the government seeking around ₹50 crore for the next academic year.

But, the government announced a grant of only ₹22.4 crore in the budget, which was enough to cover the salaries of the regular faculty of the institution.

UVCE Teachers’ Association wrote to Bangalore University seeking to maintain status quo for one more year, till March 31, 2023. But, the university rejected the appeal.