The best performing engineering colleges under the Biju Patnaik University of Technology (BPUT) — the largest technical university in Odisha — will soon get autonomy. An autonomous status will not just help these institutions avail direct funds from the University Grants Commission (UGC), but also makes them eligible to pursue research for technological innovations.
At present, the BPUT has 153 engineering colleges affiliated to it but none of them except the CV Raman College of Engineering in Bhubaneswar has autonomous status. The UGC had conferred autonomous status to the college on January 13, 2011. Subsequently on April 15, the UGC nominated the then vice-chancellor (technical) of the Uttarakhand University Dr DS Chauhan as its representative to the board of the governing body of the college.
Vice-chancellor of BPUT, Professor Shyam Sundar Pattnaik said for the last few years, the best performing colleges under the university have been demanding autonomous status for availing UGC grants that would help them in infrastructure and academic development. “We had approached the State Government on the issue and it has agreed to it. Accordingly, a committee formed by the BPUT has come up with a draft autonomy proposal which will soon be submitted to the State Government,” he said. By January next year, a few colleges will be granted autonomous status by the university, Pattnaik added.
The autonomous status will also help the engineering colleges seek accreditation from National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) and seek funds under Rashtriya Uchhatar Siksha Abhiyan (RUSA) by the Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD). Currently, none of the engineering institutions have accreditation by NAAC or avail funds under RUSA.
The university will also begin academic audit of its affiliated engineering colleges in January. The audit would cover academic standards maintained by the institutes as prescribed by All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE), which accords affiliation to the institutes. Currently, 153 institutions have over 75,000 students enrolled in various programmes. However, quality of academics being dependent on factors like infrastructure, faculty, library, lab and training, the university wants a stocktaking of the entire scenario.
The Odisha Government was also considering bifurcation of BPUT for better administration of the colleges affiliated to it. Under RUSA, a university having more than 72 colleges can be split into two. The government had planned to bifurcate the university into BPUT-I and BPUT-II. The move aimed at streamlining functioning of the university that often faces criticism for delayed examinations and results.
This would streamline the academic calendar and improve quality. While BPUT-I would remain at the current campus of the university at Rourkela and cater to colleges in Western Odisha, BPUT-II will function from Bhubaneswar. Technical colleges in Western Odisha would be affiliated to BPUT-I while those from coastal districts and Dhenkanal will come under BPUT-II. “The proposal of bifurcation is in its nascent stage. We are looking at streamlining the admission process now and then appointment of faculty members,” said the VC.