Funds released for pensions; Chief Minister promises revival of Mysore varsity

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has said he will pay special attention to restoring the lost glory of the century-old University of Mysore (UoM).

“I studied at this university. I will examine its problems and work towards a permanent solution,” he said while addressing a function organised to felicitate K. Shivakumar, Congress MLC, at the Senate Bhavan in Manasagangothri on January 6.

Holding successive Vice-Chancellors responsible for the financial crisis faced by universities, Mr. Siddaramaiah said the State government has released funds to pay pensions to retired employees of UoM, which had been struggling to release pension payments.

The Chief Minister said the employees had met him and submitted a representation seeking intervention in the pension issue. “The situation had reached a stage where the university had no funds to pay pensions,” he said.

Mr. Siddaramaiah responded to the issue after senior journalist Krishnaprasad drew his attention to the university’s state of affairs and sought his immediate intervention, citing that the Chief Minister himself is an alumnus of the institution.

He also announced that a committee headed by Social Welfare Minister Dr. H.C. Mahadevappa had been constituted to fill backlog vacancies.

Hitting out at the NDA government at the Centre, Mr. Siddaramaiah alleged that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime had resulted in a loss of nearly ₹6,000 crore to the State. He also said that the funding pattern under the MGNREGA scheme (now VB-G RAM G Act) had been altered abruptly from full Central funding to a 60:40 Centre-State ratio, resulting in an additional financial burden of about ₹2,500 crore on the State government.