Ambedkar School of Economics counselling from August 16

The process of selecting the first batch of 50 students at the Bengaluru Dr B R Ambedkar School of Economics (BASE) will start on August 16, Higher Education Minister Basavaraj Rayareddi said on Wednesday.

“As many as 259 students wrote the entrance examination for the B.Sc (Honours) Economics course,” the minister told reporters.

BASE, which the government aims to project as the city’s own version of the iconic London School of Economics, will come up on a 43-acre land on Jnanabharathi campus. “The government has released Rs 150 crore towards infrastructure and tenders have been floated,” Rayareddi said.

The government is also setting up residential degree colleges in Bidar, Kalaburagi, Yadgir, Raichur, Koppal, Haveri, Chitradurga, Vijayapura, Kolar and Chamarajanagar districts at a cost of Rs 25 crore each, Rayareddi said. “We have asked deputy commissioners of these districts to identify 10 acres of government land for the colleges and submit a report within a week,” he said.

These colleges are being set up under the SC/ST sub plans. “Hence, 60% of SC and 40% ST students will be given admissions with a 65:35 ratio for boys and girls,” he said.

A new legislation the government wanted to enact in order to bring more transparency in the functioning of public universities did not pass in the Legislative Council, Rayareddi lamented.

“Prima facie, we found that irregularities amounting to Rs 600 crore have taken place in public universities in the last 10 years. There have been irregularities in recruitment as well. But the government does not have the power to conduct an enquiry. That’s why we proposed a single, new Act covering all universities.”