Seven government engineering colleges in the State will get at least Rs.72.5 crore over the next four years under the second phase of the Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme (TEQIP), an initiative of the Central government. TEQIP was instituted in 2003 as a 10 to 12 years' programme to be implemented in three phases for overhauling technical education in the country.
In order that its colleges become eligible for funds under this programme, the State government has given an undertaking to the Centre that it would ensure academic autonomy to TEQIP-funded institutions and that it is considering setting up a technological university to make such autonomy a practical reality. This has to materialise in the next three months.
In the second phase of TEQUIP, the government engineering colleges in Thrissur, Kozhikode, Kannur, Kottayam, Painavu and at Barton Hill, Thiruvananthapuram will get at least Rs.10 crore each for initiatives under the ‘Strengthening Institutions to Improve learning Outcomes and Employability of Graduates' component.
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While 75 per cent of this fund will come from the Centre, the rest will be footed by the State. These six colleges are among the 25 government engineering colleges in the country which will be given funds under this programme.
Under the ‘Scaling up PG Education and Demand-driven Research & Development and Innovation' component of the programme, the College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram, will receive at least Rs.12.5 crore. The CET will be among the 21 institutions, including seven NIITs - which will receive funds under this component. Details of the institutions being funded under TEQIP are available on the website of the National Project Implementation Unit, www.npiu.nic.in.
In the first phase of the programme, 127 technical institutions from 13 States received funding from 2003 to 2009. Of these, five institutions from Kerala — the College of Engineering Thiruvananthapuram, IHRD College, Changannur, IHRD Model Engineering College, LBS Institute Kasaragod and the Sree Chithra College of Engineering, Pappanamcode — received Rs.52 crore. The CET alone received Rs.32 crore.
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“Eleven other engineering colleges, government-controlled institutions, are on the waiting list for TEQIP funds. They have been given time till March 31, 2011 to set right certain institutional deficiencies. If they also get funds, Kerala may receive more than Rs.200 crore under TEQIP,” director of Technical Education Kuncheria P. Isaac told The Hindu .