BENGALURU: With 893 colleges, Bengaluru has the most number of higher education institutions in the country, according to the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD). But the state has the fourth highest number of colleges that are not approved by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) in the country and almost all are located in the city.
Earlier this month, data provided by the MHRD in response to a question raised in the Lok Sabha, revealed that 23 colleges in Karnataka are not approved by the AICTE. The country has a total of 277 such unapproved colleges.
The list is released by AICTE to warn people against enrolling in unapproved colleges, and the central agency expects the state government to check on these institutions, close them down and update the list. But the state government has done no investigation into these so far and many colleges named in the latest list have either changed their names, addresses or shut down.
Karnataka’s Education Minister GT Devegowda told CE that they will be forming a committee to look into the matter.
Chairman of AICTE, Anil Sahasrabudhe, says, “The list is based on those who have not taken approval. We announce it in public interest, to inform people that these are not approved by any agency. We also inform state governments to see to it that they are shut down.”
MS Ramaiah School of Advanced Studies, which is on this list, was closed down six years ago and the restructured university now runs a different course. Dr MR Jayaram, chairman of the governing council of MS Ramaiah, says, “There is no School of Advanced Studies. That has been converted into the University of Applied Sciences.”
Similarly, representatives of seven other colleges said that either the particular course named in the list has been "converted", or the college itself has shut down. For example, the address given for MATS School of Business is now where Jain University is located. To this, Dr Jitendra Kumar Misra, manager of MATS School of Management and Entrepreneurship, says, “MATS School of Business has closed. It never sought any recognition from AICTE.”
International Institute of Business Studies, IIBS, is also on the list but it closed down in 2012. Vasantha Laxmi, programme director with Management Academy for Digital Economy in India, says that she was part of IIBS and that it shut six years ago.
Likewise, the other colleges that claim they closed years back include ESQUIRE Academy of Management, Indian Business Academy, Institute of Business Management & Research, Institute of Management & Technology, and the ICFAI Institute of Science & Tech.
While CE managed to get in touch with eight of the 23 colleges, most others didn't have working websites or contact numbers. AICTE's Anil Sahasrabudhe adds, "If the institution approaches the respective state government and says that they have closed, the state government has to verify this and notify us, and we remove it from the list. If this process is not completed, it remains on the paper. We don't go there to see if it is closed or not closed."
For an updated list of unapproved colleges, visit: www.aicte-india.org