Autonomous engineering colleges call for inspection guidelines

A director of a reputed autonomous institute,preferring annonimity,said,“If everything is to be decided as per government rules,why should there be autonomy at all?”

“If the government wants to regulate autonomous institutes,it should come up with some guidelines. Some institutes might have misused the autonomous status,but when we talk of quality education the autonomous colleges should be given some free hand to recruit quality people,” he said.

The Commission had sent questionnaires to autonomous engineering institutes six months back seeking details of recruitment of teachers,increments and other administrative issues. The Commission’s recent reports states,“This is a misuse of autonomy. Even the Universities have failed to conduct periodic evaluation.”

When contacted,Anil Sahasrabuddhe,director of CoEP confirmed that the the Commission had sought the details. “I haven’t seen the report and therefore cannot comment,” he said.

J S Saharia,principal secretary,higher and technical education,said he had also not come across the report and could not comment.

Meeting convened
The higher and technical education department on Friday convened a meeting of V-Cs and directors of engineering colleges in Mumbai. “Government officials came down heavily on the recruitment procedure of the engineering colleges and principals were asked to abide by norms including reservation. The principals said there was a dearth of approved teachers in engineering stream and norms were proving a hindrance in recruitment,” said sources.