On a surprise inspection by AICTE about 33% i.e. one out of three colleges were found to be guilty of falsifying the data to get regulatory approvals. These engineering and technical institutes were caught submitting fraudulent data related to the number of staff, students, laboratories, infrastructure to get approval from the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). These reports were first published by HindustanTimes online.

“Quality is becoming a major issue with technical institutes and to ensure institutes comply with it surprise inspections were carried out. Strict action will be taken against these institutes and in future too AICTE will go harsh on those found submitting fraudulent data to get approvals,” said a senior official.

Facts related to the News:

1. Close to 10,000 technical as well as polytechnic institutes were granted approval by the AICTE in 2016.
2. Out of seven lakh, students graduating annually as engineers have become a major concern for the HRD ministry as only 40% of them get job placements, and one of the prime reasons are these substandard and fraudulent colleges.
3. The regulator conducted a surprise inspection of a total of 311 institutes and major discrepancies were found in 89 institutes which were given approval by the AICTE last year.

The low level of employability is also linked to the low quality of skills imparted to students in these colleges which are not at all equivalent to industry standards. A number of students take admission in these institutes and are unable to learn new skills due to poor standards of teaching and lack of infrastructure too. These institutes must be brought to justice because they have not only done forgery but have also ruined the life of many budding students who could have to contribute to society building if they would have been exposed to the better quality of education and infrastructure to support their higher studies.

Other Related News:

• AICTE had posted information on its website about 279 fake technical institutes and Delhi had emerged as the fake Capital with 66 colleges -- the highest for any state in India.