Saturday, Jun 28, 2003
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Tamil Nadu
By Our Staff Reporter
"As per our report, these colleges do not have even adequate basic infrastructure," the Vice-Chancellor, E. Balagurusamy, said at a press conference today, where he chose to come down on the managements of these institutions, especially for their ``negative treatment'' of students and parents. "We will decide later what action to take against them if they do not improve their functioning," he said. The university prepared a report categorising the 233 colleges affiliated to it, based on infrastructure and the attitudes of managements towards students and parents. The 30 colleges being pulled up were listed under `C' category — to indicate very poor infrastructure and attitude towards students. Fifty other colleges with minor defects were listed under `B' category and the rest came under `A' group for their normal functioning. To prevent colleges from collecting fees or fines on various pretexts, the university issued circulars asking them not to collect capitation fees and not to make it compulsory for students to take up hostel, transport or mess facilities. Another circular asked the institutions not to have a system of uniforms, though they could suggest a dress code, which the university was also going to have soon. It sent another circular instructing colleges to return all original certificates to students. "The major problem now is the attitude of managements towards parents and students. You can have excellent tiled bathrooms, but it is more important to have a conducive atmosphere for studying," Dr. Balagurusamy said. "The students are unhappy with their colleges due to poor infrastructure, lack of qualified teachers, the system of fines that most colleges adopt, high fee collections, non-issuance of receipts, and other reasons," he said. "I am unhappy that students of only a few colleges are agitating." (Students of two more engineering colleges — P.T. Lee Chengalvaraya Naicker College of Engineering and Technology and MIET Engineering College — had trooped to the University with complaints against their managements.) Criticising the All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), the Vice-Chancellor said the council was concerned merely at facilities in an institution and not the process of management. The university would have preferred to control mushrooming of colleges but could not do so because of a Supreme Court ruling, which said anyone could start an institution if they adhered to AICTE norms. He was also critical of college authorities moving court to obtain an injunction against any action that the university might take. "It is frustrating because the court gives stay orders without even going into the merits of the case." As for demands by students of certain colleges asking for transfer to other institutions, he said it would be necessary only if the conditions were ``very poor.'' In a related development, the university has drafted a showcause to be sent to the PMR Institute of Technology — which has been closed following protests by students and parents against the management — asking it why its students should not be distributed to other self-financing colleges. The counselling sessions for admissions to engineering colleges this year would have an added attraction in the form of touch screen facilities to provide information about colleges. "Most often, students pick colleges without even knowing where they are. Using these screens they will be able to find out the exact location of the institutions and other relevant information before making a decision."
B. Arch counselling
Counselling for B. Arch courses, admissions to which had been challenged in court, would be held as scheduled, but students would be advised in their allotment letters that admissions would be subject to court order and they might have to take an attitude test. Counseling would be held this year starting June 30 in Chennai, Tiruchi, Madurai and Coimbatore for admissions to 46,630 seats in engineering colleges, of which 41,839 belonged to self-financing institutions. The Sakthi Engineering College and the J.A. Institute of Engineering and Technology were currently not included for admission under the single window system, the Vice-Chancellor said.
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