The government has put on the back burner the proposal to grant autonomy to more colleges in the State.
The decision was taken at a meeting of the Autonomy Approval Committee, which felt it appropriate to defer the sanction until the proposed amendments are made to the existing legislation.
In addition to the 19 autonomous colleges that currently function in the State, seven more institutions, including the Government Sanskrit College, Thiruvananthapuram, which has been graded A+ by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council through a cumulative grade point average (CGPA) of 3.58 out of 4, are eligible for the autonomous status under the guidelines of the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Host of complaints
However, a host of complaints that have cropped up regarding the functioning of the existing colleges have necessitated a close scrutiny of the University Laws (Third Amendment) Act, 2014. Despite taking up the issue of granting autonomy to more colleges during the discussions, the committee, chaired by Higher Education Minister K.T. Jaleel, deemed it wise to proceed only after resolving the existing problems.
With the monsoon session of the Assembly under way, the government is likely to introduce the proposed amendment through an ordinance after the session. Deliberations on increasing the number of autonomous colleges in the State will take centre stage only after the implementation of the Act.
