Ranchi, Oct. 26: Apparently let down by the poor show of the existing technical colleges and to check the ‘exodus’ of students from Jharkhand, the state science and technology department has invited proposals from private players to open technical colleges here.
So far, the department has mostly received proposals from 21 private parties from Maharashtra and Bengal. Demonstration of interested parties is slated tentatively on November 6 and 7.
On the first day of the demonstration — to be attended by science and technology minister C.P. Chaudhary, department secretary, director and other key officials — the parties would speak about their strength, achievements, number of accredited institutions elsewhere and their progress report.
Science and technology director Arun Kumar, who took charge on September 5, told The Telegraph: “We will go by the previous achievements of the parties to decide if they should be allowed to open colleges. We are ready to provide assistance in the form of land, such as asking 50 per cent of the land price.” He added that he would be particularly keen on qualified faculty and impressive infrastructure.
But the parties would have to adhere to certain norms, he added. “We will give them a no-objection certificate after getting a token of commitment, saying they will conform to the requirements of All India Council of Technical Education, the state government and the affiliating university.
“After their demonstration, we’ll hold a meeting with authorities of existing colleges and take stock of their progress report. If they are really serious in helping the cause of technical education, we would provide necessary help,” Kumar said.
The condition of existing private institutions is despicable, particularly in terms of faculty members and infrastructure. Jharkhand has just one government engineering college (BIT-Sindri).
As for the state government colleges, Kumar said, the department has proposed to open three more colleges — one each at Ramgarh, Chaibasa and Dumka. Department sources said that the first college would be at Ramgarh.
The department has proposed to kick-start the foundation-laying ceremony of the proposed college towards the end of November.
