VILLUPURAM: Even as the controversy surrounding SVS Naturopathy and Yoga Science College continues, students and activists said that about 80 per cent of the private colleges in the district lacked basic facilities even though they charged exorbitant fees.
According to R Murugappan, an activist, there were just 20 colleges in the district three decades ago. “The number has doubled now and 75 per cent of them are private institutions,” he said.According to the 2011 Villupuram district education institution data, there are 41 colleges in the district, including 20 arts and science colleges (13 private and 7 government), 17 engineering colleges (15 private and 2 government), two nursing colleges (both private), a government medical college (Mundiyambakkam) and a private naturopathy college (SVS).
Arivazhaghan, Villupuram district secretary of the Students Federation of India (SFI), said, “The primary issues that students of these private colleges face are the lack of well-equipped labs, libraries and proper drinking water facilities, and unhygienic toilets and the exorbitant fees collected by the administration against university guidelines, for which they would not provide a receipt.”
“While the college collects a hostel fee that is close to star hotels rates, they fail to provide even the basic facilities of a low-class lodge,” says a student of a private engineering college near Kappiyampuliyur.
Echoing his voice, another student of the same institution said, “Our college lacks primary apparatus in all department labs, but the administration collects a minimum of Rs 5,000 as the lab fee and Rs 1,000 as the lab maintenance fee. Each semester we pay Rs 6,000 but they never give us a receipt. We pay the amount fearing that the college administrators would cut our internal marks.”