Chandigarh: The new norms of All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) for establishment of technical institutions have displeased the managements of the institutes. On January 14, 2011, the Punjab Unaided Technical Institution Association (PUTIA) said that the new norms would only make things harder for managements of institutes and for students.
J S Dhaliwal, Presidents, PUTIA, said that the AICTE has substantially increased the processing fees from colleges but on the other hand, the tuition fees have not been increased since last 10 years. He also highlighted that more than 90% of the institutes in Punjab were private and self-financed. He said that the increase in processing fees will impact students also, because ultimately the burden will shift from the colleges to the students.
Anshu Kataria, Chairman, Aryans Group of Colleges (AGC), said that the Fixed Deposit Receipt (FDR) to start an engineering college was Rs 35 lakh (Rs 3.5 million), but now it has been increased to Rs 90 lakh (Rs 9 million). Furthermore, Mr. Dhaliwal told the sources that over the last 8-10 years, the AICTE's land norms have been the same despite land prices sky-rocketing.
As per sources, the members of PUTIA are also upset as the AICTE has withdrawn the power from the state governments to approve polytechnics. Nonetheless, Anshu Kataria said that the entry of corporates into education sector will lead to healthy competition in this field and also ensure quality education for students. Kataria said this while appreciating the AICTE's decision to allow corporates to start educational institutes.
