Land norms for PU colleges to be relaxed

Draft notification on easing rules sent to Law Department

Bengaluru, Karnataka: 11/05/2017: Education Minister Tanveer Sait announcing Second PUC results in Bengaluru on May 11, 2017. Photo: G.P. Sampath Kumar.

Managements of new pre-university colleges can breathe easy as the Department of Primary and Secondary Education has decided to relax land norms for running the colleges.

Speaking to The Hindu , Primary and Secondary Education Minister Tanveer Sait said land norms were being relaxed based on the demand by college managements who were unable to find land, especially in Bengaluru.

Currently, new PU colleges need to have 25,000 sq. ft land, which the department plans to reduce to 15,000 sq. ft within the BBMP and other city corporation limits. The land requirement in rural areas and other towns will, however, be different. The draft notification on easing norms has been sent to the Department of Law and Parliamentary Affairs.

Mr. Sait also said that there have been changes in requirement of other infrastructural norms such as laboratory facilities. Currently, PU colleges need to have 1,400 sq. ft of laboratory space. It has now been proposed that they can function with 800 sq. ft.

The new changes regarding land and infrastructure will not only be applicable to new PU colleges but also the existing ones who will be given time of two years to comply with the rules.

'Registration processes eased'

C. Shikha, Director of the Department of Pre-University Education (DPUE), said the department has proposed to amend the rules and sought moderation of other infrastructural norms. “Many of the processes in registration has also been simplified,” she said, adding that once the proposal is approved, PU colleges having “exceptional” infrastructure could also get permanent affiliation.

However, colleges cannot simply enrol more students. If they do increase their student intake, they will have to provide infrastructure based on the number of students in a class.

Mr. Sait also said that schools or PU colleges can now take approval of a single authority instead of obtaining multiple approvals. In case of schools too, some minor changes have been made. Schools will be given approval only if they have the necessary disaster management facilities in place.