CM announces model colleges in 20 districts

Nitte, November 19: Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda announced that as an attempt towards preparing students for taking up higher education, the State government has decided to set up model colleges at 20 districts in the state at the total cost of Rs 180 crore.

Speaking after inaugurating the silver jubilee functions of NMAM Institute of Technology here on Friday, he said that the State government has also submitted a proposal to University Grants Commission (UGC) in this regard. He said the enrollment to higher education in the country is merely 12 per cent and there is a need to increase the percentage to 25 per cent, he added.

Emphasising the government's efforts in giving priority to higher education, the chief minister said that the government has given permission to set up 55 polytechnique institutes in private sector in the State. The government has laid more stress on technical education. Besides, the government has prepared the action plan for making more students coming out from technical institutes employable. Only 25 per cent students coming out from these institutes are employable at present, he said.

Bio-fuel

Gowda said Karnataka has become number one state in the entire nation in terms of experiment and usage of bio-fuel. The government has already set up 16 such bio-fuel Information demonstration centers including the one inaugurated here today.

He informed that the government is proposed to set up such centers in another 15 places in the next 6 months period. The government has set up skill development centers in 22 technical institutes in the State as part of the priority given by the government for skill development programme. The programme is taken up under “Suvarna Kaushalya Abhivriddhi Yojana,” he informed.

He said that during the last three years, the government has set up 43 new polytechnic institutes and the vacancies in 476 polytechnique colleges have been filled up. The salaries of the part time lecturers in both polytechniques and engineering colleges have been hiked. The salary of the part time lecturers in polytechnique colleges has been increased to Rs 7,800 from Rs 1,800 and that of engineering colleges is hiked to Rs 10,000, he added.

Stating that the quality education is the need of hour, the chief minister assured that attempts will be made to make available the amenities of quality education to the students.

Digital valuation

Speaking on the occasion, VTU Belgaum Vice Chancellor Dr H Maheshappa informed that VTU has shifted to digital valuation process as against the earlier idea of manual valuation. Measures are taken to distribute the question papers directly to the colleges concerned 15 minutes before the commencement of the examination, he said.

All sorts of measures are taken in an attempt to maintain transparency in the entire process of examination and valuation. Maheshappa informed that VTU is willing to open a regional centre in the erstwhile Dakshina Kannada district, if government comes forward to provide the land, he added.

Karnataka Bio-fuel Development Board (KBDB) (Bangalore) Chairman Y B Ramakrishna opined that as many as 34 per cent of total budget outlay is going towards the import of crude oil. He said in this backdrop, there is a need to go for alternative fuel system to complete the demand.

The bio-fuel policy envisioned by the Karnataka government stands number one in the entire country. As many as 3 crore bio-fuel saplings have been planted in about 75,000 hectares of waste land since 3 years. Measures will be taken to introduce bio-fuel in as many as 18,000 buses run by the government of Karnataka, he added.He said plans have been chalked out to introduce bio-fuel as the back up power in the ground transport at Bangalore International Airport within one month, he said.

The Chief Minister also inaugurated Vocational Centre and Udupi district Bio-Fuel Information Demonstration Centre, sponsored by Karnataka State Bio-Fuel Development Board (KSBFDB) at the Institute on the occasion.

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Mangaluru–Kasaragod bus fare rolled back after Kerala protests force NHAI to shut Arikkady toll plaza

coastaldigest.com news network

February 5,2026

Mangaluru: The KSRTC Mangaluru division has rolled back the fare hike on buses operating on the Mangaluru–Kasaragod route following the suspension of toll collection at the Arikkady toll plaza near Kumbala in Kasaragod district.

The fare revision had been implemented after the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) began toll collection at the Arikkady plaza on NH-66. As a result, fares for ordinary and Rajahamsa services were increased by ₹7 and ₹10, respectively, raising the bus fare from Mangaluru to Kasaragod from ₹81 to ₹88.

Senior Divisional Controller of KSRTC’s Mangaluru division, Rajesh Shetty, said the fares were reduced after toll collection at the Arikkady plaza was stopped. “The tollgate began operations on January 13, and the toll amount was deducted from the FASTag accounts of KSRTC buses operating on the route. Following an order from the central government to suspend toll collection, KSRTC has also withdrawn the additional fare with immediate effect,” he said.

At present, vehicles travelling on the Mangaluru–Kasaragod route pay toll only at the Talapady toll plaza. The toll for light motor vehicles (LMVs) at Talapady is ₹80 for a same-day return, while heavy vehicles, including buses, are charged ₹250. At Arikkady, the toll rates were ₹130 for LMVs (same-day return) and ₹450 for buses.

Protests against Arikkady toll plaza

The Arikkady toll plaza witnessed widespread protests from January 12, the day toll collection commenced. On the second day, an action committee led by Manjeshwar MLA A K M Ashraf launched an indefinite protest at the site. Except for the BJP, leaders and workers of most major political parties participated in the agitation.

On the night of January 14, a large number of protesters gathered at the plaza and vandalised property, following which authorities temporarily suspended toll operations. The BJP later also expressed opposition to the toll plaza and criticised NHAI’s decision.

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