PUDUCHERRY: Puducherry’s first state university , Puducherry Technological University (PTU) came into existence by upgrading the state run Pondicherry Engineering College, symbolically on teachers' day .
A notification has been issued in this regard after a bill passed by the union territory assembly received the Presidential assent.
PTU will be an affiliating, teaching and research university and also facilitate and promote studies, research activities, technology incubation, product innovation and extension work in technology, management, architecture and science, so as to achieve excellence at National, International levels, in these areas and in connected fields according to a Gazette notification.
As per the Puducherry Technological University Act, the Lt Governor of the Union Territory will be the Chancellor of the University and Secretary to the territorial government (Higher Education) will by virtue of his office be the Pro Chancellor. The Chief Minister or the Higher Education minister is not part of any platform of the University , as they figure nowhere in the Act . The Vice Chancellor, Registrar and other officials of the University will be the key persons in the administration , with Secretary Education and Lt Governor on the top.
It will be a self-sustained university , for which the Puducherry government will give a limited grant and the University will have to raise its own revenue . The University will frame the curriculum, decide on the number of seats and the fee to be charged. The act also does not specify any reservation of seats exclusively for the students of Puducherry and it is not clear whether a certain number of seats will be exclusively available for Puducherry students. At present 85 percent of the seats are filled by Puducherry students , while 15 percent is by the Government of India .
As per the act , only Perunthalaivar Kamarajar Engineering College at Karaikal , also a Puducherry government institution is affiliated to the University. Besides, new colleges to be started can get affiliated to the University.
The Pondicherry Engineering College was started in 1984 and started functioning as an autonomous institution affiliated to Pondicherry University, a central university from the academic year 2014-15. It is ranked 122 in Engineering Category by NIRF India Rankings 2020.