BELAGAVI
Uncertainty hangs over the future of many Goan students pursuing higher education in Karnataka, as the Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) has withdrawn affiliation to six engineering colleges in the state.
VTU, which has its headquarters in Belagavi, has put up a public notice stating that the affiliation has been withdrawn from the academic year 2021-22.
Two colleges, Shaikh College of Engineering, Belagavi and Alpha College of Engineering, Bengaluru, had voluntarily applied for the withdrawal of affiliation. Three colleges had not applied for renewal while one college had defaulted on the norms compelling VTU to initiate extreme measures.
VTU has said students studying in these colleges will be re-allotted to other affiliated colleges of the university.
Colleges whose affiliation has been withdrawn are Alpha College of Engineering (Bengaluru), Shaikh College of Engineering (Belagavi), Islamiah Institute of Technology (Bengaluru), Ekalavya Institute of Technology (Chamarajanagar), Sri Vinayaka Institute of Technology (KGF) and BTL Institute of Technology and Management (Bengaluru).
The notice from the university read, “The process/notification for the re-allotment process will be notified separately. Aspiring students seeking fresh admission to these colleges are advised to take note of the same. If any student proceeds further with admission to these institutes, the university will not be responsible for it.”
“Some colleges had applied for closure while others did not apply for renewal of affiliation. One college failed to comply with the norms,” VTU Registrar A S Deshpande told The Goan, adding that a decision to this effect was taken at the recent Executive Council meeting.
While panic prevails among the parents and students of the above colleges, VTU has assured that the students of these colleges will be shifted to other colleges after thorough counselling in September.
“At present, students can answer their examinations peacefully. Common counselling would be done after presenting the list of colleges and these students would be admitted to other colleges,” Dr Deshpande said.
The management of Shaikh Engineering College said it was difficult to manage the college amid adverse conditions.
“Feasibility of running the college in view of the diminishing demand, lack of job opportunities and the reverse supply-demand situation compelled the management of the Shaikh Group to submit a request for closure of Shaikh College of engineering. The VTU subsequently accepted our request,” Shaikh group has stated.
