Karnataka has 23 Fake Engineering Colleges

Karnataka has fourth highest number of fake engineering colleges

Ashutosh (name changed), completed his undergraduate engineering programme in a private engineering college in the State and went for post-graduation admission. He was denied admissions and the reasons cited were that his marks cards and degree were invalid. Upon investigating, he found out that his college has been put in a ‘fake’ college list that had no permissions from the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) to continue functioning.

Ashutosh’s case is just one example. Officials in the AICTE have received several such complaints recently. They are helpless as indeed certain colleges are listed under the ‘fake’ category. As per the Union Human Resource Development Ministry, there are 23 fake engineering colleges in the state.

An official from one of the technical colleges said, “These colleges were ruining students’ lives and cheating them. Several students have paid a huge sum of money and now, they are left at sea. The AICTE has called these colleges out and the list is for all to see.”

BM asked experts what is in store for the students of these colleges. Dr. Anil D Sahasrabudhe said, “Their degrees are not valid for higher education and government jobs.”

Explaining about fake colleges in the country, an official from AICTE, said, “It has come to the notice of the government that several engineering colleges are conducting courses without the approval of AICTE. In the country, there are 277 fake engineering institutions.”

In order to regulate engineering colleges, the AICTE has been established by an Act of Parliament (Act 52 of 1987) with a function to grant approval to new technical institutions, the introduction of new courses etc. “The AICTE has also notified regulations mandating the technical institutions to obtain prior approval for running courses in Engineering and Technology. Further, the institutions conducting unapproved courses are directed from time to time through public notices and individual letters under intimation to the state governments concerned to seek AICTE approval for conducting of technical education programmes or to shut these colleges down,” the official added.

UGC list

The University Grants Commission (UGC) also has a list of 24 fake universities in the country. In this, ‘Badaganvi Sarkar World Open University Education Society, Gokak, Belgaum, Karnataka’ is the only one fake university in the state.

State representative of the HRD Ministry said, “To curb the menace of fake universities or institutions, UGC publishes public Notices on list of fake Universities/Institutions in Hindi and English Newspapers and sends letters to State Chief Secretaries, Education Secretaries and Principal Secretaries for taking action against fake Universities or Institutes in their jurisdiction and identify such Universities or Institutes that are functioning in their State.”

Source: BangaloreMirror