Mysuru: The Academic Council meeting of the University of Mysore (UoM) held at Crawford Hall this morning was witness to a long debate concerning M.A. (English) admission at UoM’s Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Post-Graduate Centre in Chamarajanagar.

Centre Director Prof. Shivabasavaiah, with support from some of the Council members, raised objection to UoM’s unilateral decision on hiking the eligibility marks for M.A. (English) from the existing 40 percent to 45 percent (for SC/ST) and from 45 to 50 percent for General category students, which has resulted in the closure of the English PG Department at the Centre.

Maintaining that the five percent hike in the qualifying marks had rendered injustice to students from backward Chamarajanagar district, Prof. Shivabasavaiah questioned the UoM’s decision to hike the qualifying marks only for admission to M.A. (English) while keeping the qualifying marks for other M.A. courses unchanged.

Replying to the issue, Vice-Chancellor Prof. G. Hemantha Kumar said that the University will form an Academic Council Sub-Committee to look into the matter and other aspects concerning the Chamarajanagar PG Centre.The University Budget for the year 2019-20 was presented with a deficit of Rs. 298.48 lakh.

Prof. Lingaraj Gandhi, Registrar (Administration), Prof. K.M. Mahadevan, Registrar (Evaluation) and Council Members were present at the meeting.