Students are protesting in opposition to Dr BR Ambedkar Institute of Technology because it failed to fulfill a set of situations imposed by Pondicherry University resulting in disaffiliation.
With their careers at stake, college students from the Dr BR Ambedkar Institute of Technology (DBRAIT) in Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar Islands have been on a path of agitation since August 2022. The college students have raised a number of considerations however the main situation is the institute’s refusal to fulfill the 17 situations put forth by the Pondicherry University to get affiliation for BTech programs. Since the institute didn’t fulfil the situations, the conditional affiliation from Pondicherry University has been cancelled and college students are unable to seem for exams.
Dr BR Ambedkar Government Polytechnic was arrange in 1984. A second Government Polytechnic was established in 1989 in the identical campus. Utpal Sharma was appointed because the principal of the Polytechnic in 1996 and has been within the publish since then. In 2010, each the polytechnics have been merged and renamed as Dr BR Ambedkar Institute of Technology and commenced providing full-time engineering levels together with diploma programs.
An audit report submitted by the Indian Accounts and Audit Department earlier this yr stated that the upgradation of Dr Utpal Sharma’s publish from principal of polytechnic to the principal of DBRAIT “violated the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) norms” as he didn’t possess the required {qualifications}. The norms state that the place for the principal should be created and the place should be contractual for a interval of 5 years. None of those situations have been fulfilled when Utpal Sharma grew to become the principal of DBRAIT.
Several different norms set by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and Pondicherry University have been additionally not adopted by the institute. Pondicherry University has been directing the Andaman and Nicobar administration to nominate a brand new principal for the previous 10 years however that has not been performed. The University has additionally been asking the island’s administration to nominate effectively certified professors and affiliate professors for the complete time levels however that has not been performed both. Apart from these violations, there have been additionally a number of deficiencies identified within the lab gear, library books, journals, and sports activities services.
DBRAIT has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Maharashtra State Board of Technical Education (MSBTE) the place the latter would supply help to the previous when it comes to curriculum design, growth, implementation, monitoring and analysis for the diploma programmes. However, MSBTE doesn’t have jurisdiction exterior the state of Maharashtra, terming the MoU invalid. The audit report acknowledged that the Institute didn’t clarify the explanations behind the MoU and had solely furnished the stated MoU.
In mild of those violations and its disaffiliation from Pondicherry University, college students have been protesting in opposition to the administration since August 2022. Speaking to TNM, Rama Rao, a scholar from the Institute stated: “Lateral entries to full time degrees after completing diplomas are not possible now since the Institute is disaffiliated from Pondicherry University. We are unable to give our exams because of the same. Pondicherry University questioned the quality of infrastructure of the college and the principal’s qualifications but they were not satisfied with the response. The college has not fulfilled all the 17 norms put forward by the University so it was disaffiliated. We can blame each other but students are the ones who are suffering, at the end of the day.”
Another third yr scholar, Anmol, spoke to TNM and stated, “We do not blame Pondicherry University. They had given a list of norms, the college did not fulfil them and it was disaffiliated. They were just doing their job. After all, DBRAIT was given only conditional affiliation by the University on the condition that these norms will be fulfilled. There are a lot of issues here. Our demands are straightforward. We want the management to appoint two different principals for the diploma and degree courses and the college to fulfil the norms put forth by Pondicherry University so that students can take their exams and get their degrees.”
