Mysuru: Alleging irregularities including unnecessary appointments at Karnataka State Open University (KSOU), members of Devaraj Urs Prathime Prathistapana Samithi yesterday stage a postcard campaign by posting the postcards to the Chief Minister at the post box in front of Mysuru City Corporation main Office in city yesterday.

Speaking at the protest, Samithi President Zakir Hussain said that KSOU Registrar Prof. K.B. Praveen, when he was serving as the Registrar (Evaluation) at the University of Mysore had prepared the question paper for the first semester Education course during which he had committed dereliction of duty while preparing the question paper for which he was kept out of all examination duties for two years and was fined Rs. 20,000.

Continuing, Zakir said that when Prof. Praveen became the Registrar (Evaluation) at KSOU, a FIR was registered against him when a question paper was leaked, but still no action was initiated against him.

Alleging that on Mar. 16, 2024, KSOU re-appointed the person facing dereliction of duty charges as the Registrar, he said that already, Devaraj Urs Pratishapana Samiti had fought against previous Registrar Prof. K.L.M. Murthy, who had made more than 400 unnecessary appointments and brought it to the attention of the Chief Minister, Governor and Higher Education Minister and Prof. Murthy, following which he was transferred.

Now Prof. K.B. Praveen has been appointed as the KSOU Registrar, who is again continuing his previous trend by recruiting more than 45 people (as of current date) as teaching and non-teaching staff to Regional Centres. Is this required? Zakir questioned. This kind of unnecessary recruitment will close down the KSOU which should be prevented and KSOU should be saved from such corruption, he added.  

Zakir urged the CM, Education Minister and Governor, who is the Chancellor to immediately intervene, conduct a thorough probe, punish the guilty and bring KSOU which is going on the wrong path to the right path and provide good education to the students.

Their demands included takeover of corpus funds in KSOU by the Government; appointment of IAS or KAS Officers as Registrars; construction of unnecessary buildings be stopped and utilise unused buildings at Manasagangothri and Maharani’s College among others.

Samithi Convenor Radiulla Khan, Dairy Venkatesh, Prashanth Arya, Anisha Rao, Mohan Kumar, Sadanand, Darshan and others were present.