The State’s famed engineering colleges, which attract a good number of students from outside Karnataka, cut a sorry figure in the first India Rankings 2016.
Not only did no college make it to the top 20, even the State’s best known engineering institution – the National Institute of Technology, Surathkal – ranked 22. This was the highest ranked engineering institution from Karnataka.
‘Top’ colleges too, such as the M.S. Ramaiah Institute of Technology (MSRIT) and R.V. College of Engineering (RVCE), were mid-ranked, surprising many.
But college managements are terming it an unfair comparison between the Centrally-funded Indian Institutes of Technology (which have bagged the top honours) and private colleges such as theirs.
M.K. Panduranga Setty, secretary of the Karnataka Unaided Private Engineering Colleges’ Association, also president of the Rashtreeya Sikshana Samithi Trust (RSST) which manages RVCE, said there was a huge difference between Centrally-funded institutions and private colleges. “They have looked into various aspects, such as inflow of foreign students. RVCE is also not a university and is still affiliated to Visvesvaraya Technological University. We have no foreign tie-ups either,” he said, justifying their rank.
K. Rajinikanth, former Principal, MSRIT, also said it was obvious that IITs and NITs would be ranked higher as it is unlikely that private colleges will be able to compete with government institutes in areas of funding and research.
“The rankings parameters are titled towards these institutions. It is the same way that Indian institutions lose in global rankings. The one area that these college can do well is BE teaching, for which a lot of resources are put in. They should start paying attention to research and getting projects funded,” he added.
