K'taka govt scraps 50% admission criteria for higher educational institutions to grant minority tag
Bengaluru: In a major decision, the Karnataka government on Friday scrapped the criteria of a minimum number of students required from a minority community to grant the religious minority tag to higher education institutions.
Under the existing rules, institutions offering higher and technical education must admit 50 percent students from the minority religion to qualify for the religious minority institution tag. For example, a Christian minority higher education institution had to have 50 percent Christian students. This requirement has posed challenges, especially for institutions run by smaller communities such as Christians, Jains, Sikhs, and Parsis, which have a limited population base in the state.
The relaxation of the rule would increase the number of non-minority students in the institutions run by minorities.
Briefing on the decisions made at the Cabinet meeting, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H.K. Patil stated that the decision was in line with Article 30 and the recommendations of the National Minority Commission. The tag would be granted to PU colleges, as well as undergraduate and postgraduate institutions.
Meanwhile, Minority Welfare Minister B.Z. Zameer Ahmed Khan, a prominent Muslim leader from Congress, had earlier expressed surprise at the new rules that apply to institutions run by all minority groups, including Muslims. Muslim-run institutions are reportedly not in favour of the relaxation, as they have sufficient students from their community to meet the requirements. There are concerns that such a relaxation could lead to non-minority students outnumbering the minority students in these institutions.
However, government officials have maintained that the rules cannot be amended selectively to exempt Muslim institutions while relaxing norms for others.
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Karnataka government employees demand return of Old Pension Scheme
Bengaluru: Government employees in Karnataka have urged the state government to scrap the New Pension Scheme (NPS) and bring back the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), The New Indian Express reported.
The demand was made by the Karnataka State Government Employees’ Association, whose leaders met senior IAS officer Uma Mahadevan on Monday and submitted a memorandum. The association asked the NPS Review Committee, headed by senior IAS officer Anjum Parvez, to recommend the reintroduction of OPS in the state.
Association president C.S. Shadakshari reportedly said the review committee has already visited Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana where NPS was revoked and OPS re-implemented. The committee is yet to submit its report, but has told the government it will do so soon.
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Shadakshari allegedly said NPS has been in force in Karnataka since 2006. He pointed out that West Bengal never adopted the scheme, while Andhra Pradesh and Telangana replaced NPS with a contributory pension model.
States including Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Jharkhand have already scrapped NPS through cabinet decisions or budget announcements.
“Under NPS, 10% of the employees’ basic salary and DA, and 14% contribution from the state is credited to the employees’ fund. It constitutes 24% of the total which is non-withdrawable. This is invested in the share market and the final amount depends on the ups and downs of the market,” TNIE quoted Shadakshar as saying.
As per the report, he said that by limiting its contribution to 14%, the government could save up to ₹1.87 lakh crore annually if all vacancies are filled, strengthening the case for bringing back the old pension system.
