Engg. colleges: Politician-backed trusts in race

By T. Lakshmipathi

HYDERABAD, DEC. 2. There is virtually a rat race among private educational societies to set up engineering colleges in Andhra Pradesh. And if the pace at which they are being opened in almost every nook and corner of the State is any indication, AP will soon outstrip the neighbouring Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, which boast of more than 200 colleges each.

There are at present 105 colleges with an intake 26,879 seats. The All-India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) has permitted the establishment of another 46 colleges in the next two years and the painstaking exercise of grounding these is under way.

Private trusts dominated by influential persons with political backing are in the run to secure permissions for these colleges. As many as 203 societies have applied for permission for 46 engineering colleges notified by the AICTE.

A high-power committee headed Mr.B.V. Krishna Rao has examined the credentials of these societies and shortlisted them for the purpose of issue of no-objection certificates (NOCs) by the Government, a prerequisite for AICTE clearance.

The committee's proposals were posed to representatives of Opposition parties by the Minister for Technical Education, Mr. Alapati Rajendra Prasad,

as the Government, in his words, is keen on ensuring that entire transaction is clean and transparent.

But the Opposition parties did kick off dust, arguing that ``weightage'' was given to some favoured societies by keeping the criteria of selection a closely guarded secret. They charged that the norms followed by the experts committee in allotting additional marks for the societies for possessing additional land and additional fixed deposits over and above the stipulated limits of the AICTE, were not publicised in advance.

Brushing aside these allegations, the State Cabinet approved NOCs for 61 societies for setting up 37 colleges. It could not finalise promoters for the remaining nine colleges. These proposals would now be forwarded to the AICTE which would send teams on field visit for verification of the available infrastructure facilities and the ``track record'' of the promoters.

The proliferation of the colleges has begun four years ago with their number going up from 37 (with an intake of 10,155) in 1996- 97 to 57 (intake 14,515) next year and to 80 colleges (19,773 seats) and 102 (24,473 seats) in the subsequent two years.

Even as counselling to admit the students to these institutions for the current academic year dragged on, an additional intake of 3,500 seats, mostly in information technology and computer sciences was allowed by the All-India Council of Technical Education.

For the promotee trusts, the AICTE has laid down the criteria that they should possess not less than 25 acres duly registered in their names, 28,000 sq ft of builtup area (plinth area) and a fixed deposit of Rs. 50 lakhs. In urban areas, it is enough if the societies show a registered land of just ten acres.

Politicians are fighting the cause of promoters of institutes of higher learning. So much so, every second applicant for the colleges is backed by a political leader of ruling or Opposition party.

The weightage given by the Experts Committee for additional land shown by the societies and the additional depots made in banks is being questioned by the Opposition parties as a ``premeditated move'' to help a select few.

For instance, every additional acre above than the stipulated 25 acres was allotted one mark subject to a maximum of five marks. In the case of deposits, one extra mark is awarded for every additional ten lakh rupees.

``The guidelines followed by the experts panel were not widely circulated. Only the fortunate few got wind of them and accordingly prepared themselves. It was not a level-playing field and the selection is not fair,'' said K.R. Suresh Reddy of Congress, who participated in the meeting.

Mr. Asauddin Owaisi (MIM) questioned the rationale in allowing the spurt in engineering colleges without ensuring faculty and proper infrastructure. An estimated 2,000 lecturers, 1599 assistant professors are required for these colleges. This need was not assessed,'' he remarks.

The Minister maintains that the Government has not interfered with the functioning of the experts committee. The NOCs were issued based on the recommendations of the committee.

In defence of the spurt in the number of colleges, the Minister explained that the policy of permitting the colleges was liberalised considering the need for adequately trained human resources, particularly in the field of engineering and technology. The present intake of engineering seats works out to 38 seats for a population of one lakh while Karnataka and some other States boast of 50 seats for the same population.

For ensuring quality of education in the colleges in remote areas, networking of the institutions with the help of Ku band facilities available under a memorandum of understanding with the Indian Space Research Organisation is proposed.

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