No proposal to open colleges for Muslim women: Karnataka CM Bommai

Bangalore (Karnataka) [India], December 2 : Dismissing reports that the Karnataka government has given consent to the Wakf Board to open colleges for Muslim women students in the state, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Thursday said that no such proposal exists at any level of his administration.
"The statement by the Karnataka State Wakf Board Chairman on opening separate colleges for Muslim women students was only a statement, and there is no such proposal before the government," Bommai said.
Karnataka Wakf Board Chairman Maulana Shafti Saadi had recently said that it has been decided to start 10 colleges for girls in various districts in the state at a cost of Rs 2.5 crore per college, and the Chief Minister and Minister Jolle had given in-principle consent to this project.
Saadi said on Thursday the discussions have taken place at the Wakf Board level and the matter has not reached the government yet. "The proposal is still getting ready and will be sent to the government in the days to come."
The new colleges will be opened in Dakshina Kannada, Shivamogga, Kodagu, Chikkodi, Nippani, Kalaburagi, Bijapur, and Bagalkote among other places in the State, he had said, adding that after the Hijab controversy, there has been demand from the Muslim community for women colleges to be started by Wakf Board, and they had even met Union Minister for Women & Child Development Smriti Irani in this regard.