Bhubaneswar, Sept. 2: The department of employment, technical education and training has directed Biju Patnaik University of Technology (BPUT ) to conduct an academic audit of its affiliated engineering colleges.

The department has reportedly initiated this move worrying over allegations of falling academic standards of various engineering colleges under the varsity’s fold.

In a letter to the varsity, the department said the BPUT should conduct an academic audit of the institutions and furnish the audit reports to the department based on which the government would issue no-objection certificates to such colleges.

The audit should also be conducted for any increase in the colleges’ intake capacities and introduction of new disciplines, said the directive. The BPUT will have to ascertain whether or not the institutes concerned have the requisite infrastructure and faculties for functioning, which have been stipulated by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).

The varsity has been asked to conduct an enquiry and intimate the department about the institutions that are having second shifts and if they are following the AICTE guidelines in letter and spirit.

“Following the academic audit by the BPUT and an assessment of the department, the government will make its decision public,” said a senior official in the department of employment, technical education and training.

The varsity has also been asked to conduct an academic audit of the colleges where zero admission was noticed against the approved intake.

The decision was taken when the department came across representation of certain colleges, which did not get any students last year in certain disciplines, to get those vacancies filled up through lateral entry categories.

This will be the first time that an academic audit will be conducted in the engineering colleges in the state.

The BPUT will take help of teachers from institutions such as the IITs for the audit. An expert committee would evaluate academic and educational infrastructure in the private engineering colleges in a phase-wise manner, said a BPUT official.