At Mysore University’s Convocation, Minister Acknowledges Deep Funding Crisis as Leaders Urge Reform

Overview

• Higher Education Minister M. C. Sudhakar said the University of Mysore needs about Rs. 154 crore annually and lacks funds for pensions and salaries, attributing the crisis to years of mismanagement.
• Sudhakar lamented declining standards at the century-old institution and said students and faculty increasingly look to Western universities.
• Former ISRO chairman S. Somanath called for stronger academia–industry–government coordination and translational research, citing recent space missions as models for frugal engineering and systems thinking.
• Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot emphasized value-based education to strengthen national unity and social harmony, noting alignment with the National Education Policy.
• The convocation conferred 30,966 degrees, including 18,612 to women and 449 Ph.Ds, and awarded honorary doctorates to S. V. Rajendra Singh Babu, T. Shyam Bhat, and P. Jayachandra Raju.