'Supernumerary quota income limit to remain Rs 4.5 lakh' - The New Indian Express

Shooting down the State government’s request to lower the income limit for supernumerary quota (SNQ), which is reserved for families under the Rs 4.5 lakh per annum cap, the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has clarified that there will be no change.

The SNQ was introduced by the AICTE last year, in which 5 per cent of seats in each engineering college and course are reserved for families with an annual income of less than `4.5 lakh per annum, and these seats are over and above the seat matrix. Minister for Higher Education R V Deshpande had expressed “strong reservation” about the eligibility criterion of the SNQ and said that he had asked the AICTE to lower the income limit. But AICTE chairperson S S Mantha told Express: “Rs 4.5 lakh is a national category for the creamy layer and we should stick to this.”

Mantha argues that if making any revision or reconsideration to this quota would violate the merit in that class. “The procedure is, every family whose income is less than `4.5 lakh would apply for this quota. Then, the admission authority makes a merit list in this category. Once a merit list is made, if there is any method to give priority to someone whose annual income is `2 lakh, then it definitely violates merit. We cannot create a clause within a clause,” he said.

If a candidate gets a SNQ seat, then the tuition fee prescribed by the government in that particular college will be waived off. The candidate has to pay the other fees only.  As many as 4,819 SNQ engineering were seats available this year, of which only 69 are vacant. “These seats can be claimed by II PUC supplementary students who are eligible for seats through the Common Entrance Test,” said S P Kulkarni, administrative officer, KEA.

Out of 4,725 II PUC supplementary, candidates who were eligible for a special round of CET counselling, only 1,021 verified their original documents on Sunday. These candidates can enter their options till 9 pm on August 6. Out of 9,227 seats that remained after the end of the second extended round, as many as 8,983 engineering seats will be offered for allotment. 

AICTE Quality control in Engineering (BTech) techhical campuses

KOLKATA: Having a swanky campus or a handful of qualified teachers won't be enough for engineering colleges in Bengal to take in students. Approval of the National Board of Accreditation (NBA) will soon be mandatory for every course offered by these institutes, government-run or private.

Colleges that fail to meet the minimum criteria may even lose the affiliation of the West Bengal University of Technology. This comes in the wake of AICTE's proposal to make assessment compulsory for engineering programmes across the country.

"NBA is a statutory body under the HRD ministry. Just like the NAAC accreditation for general degree colleges, NBA accreditation will be mandatory for engineering institutes," said Abhijeet Chakraborty, vice-chairman of the state Council of Higher Education.

Most state-run colleges - like Jadavpur University, Besu and those in Durgapur and Jalpaiguri - have NBA accreditation. But private colleges have a very poor record. Only eight engineering programmes in the 91 AICTE-approved colleges have NBA certification. The council has written to WBUT to ensure that private colleges fall in line, said Chakraborty.

"Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra give incentives to engineering colleges running NAB-accredited programmes as they are allowed to charge a higher fee," an NBA official said, adding that accreditation has to be renewed every two to five years.

The IIT's, NIT's and institutes like BESU and JU are part of the tier I who run NBA approved programmes.

Bengal has 216 colleges combining both AICTE and non-AICTE colleges. The engineering colleges at the moment can seek NBA accreditation for programmes and not for institute.

The colleges have to inform the NBA details of their programmes - curriculum, admission process, teacher-student ratio, research activities and papers published by teachers - after which a central team will arrive for a campus inspection. The NBA team will also assess the performance of alumni of the previous three years. "NBA accreditation will help institutes bring in funds from AICTE programmes," said a WBUT official.

Bibhuti Bhushan Poira, advisor of Heritage Group of Institutes said, "Four of our programmes had NBA accreditation. They have expired. We have applied for six programmes."

Apex court says AICTE prior approval not mandatory for starting MBA & MCA courses | careermitra.com

Colleges offering University MBA or MCA courses need not seek approval from AICTE, apex court has said in a recent verdict. The Supreme Court was hearing a petition filed by several private management colleges against the AICTE. The bench comprising of BS Chauhan and V Gopala Gowda stated that MBA is not a technical course and thus AICTE cannot be authorized to set standards about it’s quality.

Henceforth colleges offering University MBA & MCA courses are not required to seek prior approval from AICTE. The Universities themselves have no obligation to seek AICTE approval for it’s courses, why the affiliated colleges should seek AICTE approval the private management colleges argued. They alleged that AICTE is wrongly interpreting it’s powers, the colleges had challenged an order passed by the Madras High Court.

One should also note from this year AICTE has made CMAT a compulsory for all MBA colleges affiliated by AICTE. The apex court verdict comes as a sigh of relief as non AICTE approved colleges have more flexibility. These colleges need not wait to take only CMAT score.

COIMBATORE: The recent Supreme Court judgement saying that MBA institutes need not come under the purview of AICTE is being welcomed by academics in the management field. They say that this will allow academic freedom for the institutions, though some fear it may be misused.

The judgment says that MBAs will not come under the purview of theAll India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) and therefore the B-Schools will come only under the universities to which they are affiliated. Academics say that from now on, the Arts and Science Colleges can run those institutes under their colleges instead of running them separately.

"This will give academic freedom to management institutions," observes R Nandagopal the Director of the PSG Institute of Management. Till now the selection was mostly based on the various entrance examinations suggested by AICTE. This may have helped identify academically brilliant students, but many of them lacked the qualities required for business.

However, there are a few who are sceptical about this new found freedom of management institutions. Debashis Chatterjee, Director, Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode (IIMK), who believes that the AICTE can be an advisory body fears that many 'unscrupulous' elements will take advantage of it. "The risk of having too many restrictions which can lead to a kind of a 'license' raj is certainly not good but total freedom has its own dangers. The Supreme Court may be trying to strike a balance," he says. He says that AICTE's efforts to improve the quality of education has helped to an extent. The universities will to be vigilant regarding quality of education.

Many management experts point out that the quality of teachers which had improved after AICTE's intervention, may be compromised once the universities are given control. "They will be run like any other arts and science institute which is pathetic," said a senior academic who wished to be anonymous. The latest information is that AICTE is planning to file a review petition against the order.

AICTE: Corporate companies to start Engg Colleges

Four corporate companies to start new engineering colleges across India with All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), New Delhi permission. AICTE has received the applications from four corporate companies namely, Madras Cements from Tamil Nadu, Bharat Forge from Maharashtra, TechMahindra from Andhra Pradesh and, a company from Jharkhand. AICTE chairman S S Mantha, said "A total of four companies have applied in the first year. A decision will have to be taken soon," "We want industries to participate in the process of delivering quality education. We genuinely feel that the industry should participate more than they are doing now. An initiative like this is a step in that direction. It will facilitate introduction of best practices of the industry," he said. Earlier, the industry was only involved in organising lectures and specific projects at AICTE-approved technical colleges. The AICTE's decision to allow a private limited or public limited company or industry, with a turnover of Rs 100 crore each year for the past three years, to start an under-graduate, post-graduate or diploma institute, is aimed at addressing the corporate sector's complaints that students graduating from technical institutes are not industry-ready or employable. A V Dharmakrishnan, chief executive officer, Madras Cements, said: "Madras Cements currently has schools across its factories in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. We also have a polytechnic institute from where we recruit. The only missing link is an engineering institute. We need a lot of manpower and we felt that this is the right time to start an engineering college as we already have the expertise. The construction of the college building has started and AICTE officials have inspected the site. We are expecting approval soon."

Engineers unemployable, revisit college approval policy, HC tells AICTE - The Times of India

CHENNAI: Stressing on the need to revisit the policy of the AICTE to grant approvals for engineering colleges, the Madras high court has lamented that several thousand colleges are churning out several lakh unemployable engineering graduates every year. Justice N Kirubakaran, noting that repayment of education loans burdened parents and students, besides the society itself, suo motu imp asked the AICTE, HRD ministry, Tamil Nadu government and the Anna University, to answer a set of questions.

They are: How many colleges, state-wide, are in existence in India since 1980? How many seats are filled up and how many seats go vacant since the year 2000? How many engineering graduates are passing out every year since 2000? How many engineering students are getting placements every year? Are authorities taking note of the acute unemployment problem among engineering graduates? Do the Centre and AICTE have any manpower policy? Why AICTE is not stopping new engineering colleges in view of the fact that Tamil Nadu alone has more than 525 colleges already?

Justice Kirubakaran also asked as to why the Centre should not appoint a commission or expert body to analyse the problems of engineering education, revisit approval norms, standards of teaching, unfilled seats and employment prospects. "The matter is of deep concern affecting the public interest, as parents admit their children in engineering courses with a fond hope and dream. That apart, services of our engineering graduates are required outside the country also. Hence, our country's image in the international arena is also involved. It is the need of the hour to revisit the approval policy of AICTE and take remedial measured to improve engineering education. Otherwise, the future of engineering education will be bleak," Justice Kirubakaran said.

The judge was making these observations on a petition filed by an engineering graduate who was cheated by a placement firm, which collected huge money from several graduates promising them to train them and then get then placements in 2008.

‘Colleges churning out unemployable graduates’ - The Times of India

CHENNAI: Highlighting the dire need to revisit the policy governing approvals for engineering colleges, the Madras high court on Thursday lamented that several thousand colleges are churning out lakhs of unemployable engineering graduates every year.

Justice N Kirubakaran, while hearing a petition filed by an engineer who was cheated by a placement agency, suo motu impleaded the AICTE, HRD ministry, Tamil Nadu government and Anna University in the case to answer a set of questions. The court wanted to know: How many colleges have been set up since 1980? How many seats have been filled and how many have gone vacant since 2000? How many engineering graduates have passed since 2000? How many engineering students are getting placements every year? Whether authorities are taking note of the acute unemployment problem among engineering graduates? Why AICTE is not stopping new engineering colleges?

Justice Kirubakaran asked as to why the Centre should not appoint a commission or expert body to analyse the problems of engineering education, revisit approval norms, teaching standards, unfilled seats and employment prospects.

"The matter is of deep concern affecting the public interest, as parents admit their children in engineering courses with a fond hope and dream. That apart, services of our engineering graduates are required outside the country also. Hence, our country's image in the international arena is also involved. It is the need of the hour to revisit the approval policy of AICTE and take remedial measures to improve engineering education. Otherwise, the future of engineering education will be bleak," Justice Kirubakaran said. He said repayment of education loans burdened parents and students as many are unable to land jobs.

In his petition, engineering graduate C Naresh Kumar said he had paid 45,000 to the Kodambakkam-based Infolink Pvt Ltd for 'software training and placement' in 2008. About 140 people had paid similar sums. When it did not happen, they lodged complaints against S Subramani and S G P Raj, directors of the company.

Subramani got anticipatory bail in August 2009 with a condition that he should furnish immovable property worth 50 lakh as surety. He did not comply with the condition. When Naresh Kumar again approached the HC for cancellation of bail, Subramani again got anticipatory bail after he gave an undertaking that he would return at least 30,000 each to students. He again defaulted. He then deposited land documents worth 50 lakh, but they were found to be forged.