Blame for delay laid at AICTE door

G eneral counselling for the undergraduate engineering courses in the state, set to begin from today, has been pushed back. It is now expected that the counselling sessions could be put off by about a month, much to the discomfort of students and parents, some of whom have already arrived in the city from other states.

Managements of many city-based engineering colleges say that the blame for the delay should be laid squarely at the doors of the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), which, for the first time, computerised the process of renewing affiliation. Colleges are now required to submit an online application to renew affiliation, an annual procedure.

Managements of colleges say that there have been glitches in the system used by the AICTE. “There was a problem with the new system, the server did not respond properly. And even the information that was sought was too much. It was not easy for the college to submit all that information,” said MR Doreswamy, chairman, PES Group of Institutions.

Colleges are required to apply to the AICTE not only for the continuation of their affiliation, but also for permission to increase intake of students and open new courses. “We found it difficult even to access the website of the AICTE. We tried using the helpline to contact officials there, but got no response,” says BS
Satyanarayana, principal, RV College of Engineering.

AICTE officials, in response to the problems faced by the colleges, twice extended the deadline for the submission of the online forms. “The deadline was extended, but after that, the AICTE just kept silent. Then, we were informed that the information provided by the colleges was insufficient, and all colleges were instructed to submit the necessary forms to the respective regional offices by June 19,” says Satyanarayana.

Till 2009, the procedure followed was to have an AICTE committee visit the colleges. A hard copy of the applications would be filled up. To introduce greater transparency, the online process was introduced this year. “We are not against the new system, but it should have been introduced after sufficient preparation. I have observed that over 10% of the newly-established colleges would find it hard to satisfy the norms, and they won’t even be able to submit an affidavit,” said Doreswamy.

The executive committee of the AICTE is meeting on June 28. Doreswamy estimates that it will take at least another two days after that for the colleges to get the AICTE nod. “Well established and old colleges might get approval that very day, but the approval for new colleges could take at least another three days,” he says.

College managements that DNA spoke to indicated that they do not expect the counselling process to occur until the second week of July. “After colleges gain AICTE approval, the Karnataka Examinations Authority will have to draw up a seat matrix, and that will take time,” said Doreswamy. He added that if counselling began in the second week of July, it would be quite commendable, under the circumstances.