Reshma Ravishanker

Come August and Chanakya University, which is envisioned at integrating Indian knowledge systems into contemporary education, is set to commence its first academic session.

This year, as many as 400 seats are up for grabs under three schools of education and 60 students will be admitted under each course the varsity is set to offer.

Classes will commence at the Brigade Orchards Campus located off Devanahalli on Bengaluru’s fringes next door their global campus in Haralur. The Brigade Orchards campus sprawls over a 135-acre township replete with amenities such as a loaded library, well-equipped labs, state of the art classrooms, activities spaces and sports facilities. Optional residential facility arrangements are offered to students.

The varsity is a project of CESS, a charitable society driven by public philanthropy and will be supported by individual and institutional support. “There are both individual and institutional donors involved in this project” according to Dr Vinayachandra Banavathy, Director, Communications and Centre for Indian Knowledge Systems, Chanakya University.

“We would be starting with three different schools this year which will include the School of Arts, Humanities and Social sciences, the School of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, and the School of Commerce and Management. In the second phase, we are looking at offering courses in Education, Public Policy, Governance and Legal Studies and Engineering and Technology at a later stage. The third phase will see Health Sciences being offered,” said Dr Banavathy.

The University came into being with a government of Karnataka act that was passed in 2021. Prof MK Sridhar has been appointed the founder chancellor while entrepreneur and philanthropist MP Kumar as its founder pro-chancellor. Prof Sridhar is also a member of the University Grants Commission. 

On the board of governors are TV Mohan Das Pai, chairman, Manipal Global Education Services and Kris Gopalakrishnan, Co-founder of Infosys. A luminary mentors’ list includes former ISRO Chairman Dr K Kasturirangan, billionaire entrepreneur Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, industrialist Dr Sitaram Jindal, former IIT-B Director Prof S Sadagopan among others.

List of courses offered this year:

• BA Honors (English, Journalism and Digital media, Economics, Psychology)
• BBA Honors (Business Analytics, Start-up and Business Innovation, Digital Enterprise Management, International Business, Services Management)
• B Com Honors (Taxation & Accounting, Fintech, Professional Studies)
• BSc Honors (Computer Science)
• BCA Honors (Data Science, Cyber Security and Digital Forensics, Cloud and Mobile Computing). 
• Postgraduates including MA in Psychology and M Com.

Also read: Solutions to world’s problems lie in traditional Indian knowledge: Pradhan