In the last two decades the concept of corporate colleges has spread like wildfire across the State. And leading the flourish is Krishna district. There are over 250 junior colleges in the district and of which about 200 falls under this category, thanks to the rat race called ‘EAMCET’ or IIT-JEE or for that matter AIEEE.
Though they have been able to churn out a good number of engineering aspirants, many feel that the methods adopted are harsh and unhealthy. “These colleges are like concentration camps,” said Jana Vignana Vedika State president Jampa Krishna Kishore.
A majority of the colleges lack basic facilities such as playground, laboratory and library and the students are put through a grind of over 10 hours on a daily basis for all the seven days in a week, he added. “Moreover, the students are treated very harshly and at times insulted if they underperform in the class tests, which leads to depression among the students,” said Rashtra Dalita Sena State general secretary D. Prem Kumar.
Acquiescing with the allegations, the Regional Inspection Officer of Intermediate Board K. Venkat Ramaiah, said, “It has come to our notice and we have been insisting the colleges to arrange playgrounds, as the children need holistic development. We have also written to the higher officials.” These omissions and commissions apart many of the colleges lack sanitation. “Most of the colleges are run from commercial or residential apartments and they provide just two or three toilets for over 300 students. Many of the students, especially the girls, suffer from infections,” alleged Mr Prem Kumar. Even the minimum safety is compromised by these colleges. According to the District Fire Officer V. Srinivas, out of 250 colleges in the district only 18 have obtained NOCs (No Objection Certificate) from 2011 till date.“Most of these colleges are functioning in buildings that violate the National Building Code. They are being run in apartments that are registered as residential complexes and are below the 18-metre stipulated norm,” he said.
“While they compromise on many fronts, the colleges do not compromise when it comes to collection of fees. The fees range from Rs. 20,000 to Rs. 70,000 for day scholars and it goes into lakhs for residential students,” said Mr Krishna Kishore.
