By PRABEER SIKDAR
DEHRADUN, 24 May 2009: Legal complexities, it seems, have become roadblocks to the future of 848 BTech students doing courses viz Computer Science, Electronics & Communication, BTech Biotech and BTech (Mechanical) from ICFAI University, here.
Faced with rejection of their job applications (first batch in the four above mentioned courses have passed out) from Delhi Metro, Indian Navy and Technical Branches of the Indian Army on the ground that their degrees are not recognised by AICTE (All India Council for Technical Education), have forced their juniors to boycott their college.
Beginning their protests from ICFAI campus, Selaqui, on 27 March, they have been staging dharnas at all the well-known protest sites outside the Secretariat and State Assembly premises.
“We have been misled by ICFAI University,” said Kaushelendra Singh, ICFAI Student Union leader and a third year student of Computer Science, who is on a hunger strike with his classmates inside a temporary tarpaulin tent near the Assembly.
AICTE fixture
The students say that although ICFAI University, Dehradun is recognised by UGC under Section 2(f) of the UGC Act, 1956, and statutorily created by Uttarakhand Government under ICFAI University Act 2003 (Act No.16 of 2003), they still require AICTE recognition to apply for government jobs.
“There are some PSUs as well as private institutions that compulsorily look at whether a BTech institution has AICTE recognition or not. They are not ready to listen to our explanations,” added Singh, pointing out that the Apex Court guideline issued in the case of Bharathidsan University vs AICTE (in 2001) had certain loopholes.
Apex Court stand
A clear reading of the Apex Court judgment in the famous case relating to the requirement of AICTE approval for BTech courses, a copy of which is with Garhwal Post, leads to contradictory interpretations.
In that case, the Supreme Court had held: Under AICTE Act, 1987, a University is not needed to acquire prior approval of AICTE for conducting technical education courses of its choice. Ironically, the same judgment adds another clause, which reads: However, a University is obliged to conform to the standards and norms laid down by AICTE.
Now, the point is who would see whether the University (ICFAI University, Dehradun in this case) conforms to the standards and norms laid down by AICTE? According to the protesting ICFAI students, the responsibility lies with the State Government. “It is the state government (during the tenure of ND Tiwari regime) that gave legal recognition to ICFAI University, Dehradun by legislating the ICFAI University Act 2003 (Act No.16 of 2003). So, if there is any problem, it is the government's duty to rectify it,” Singh explained.
Interestingly, though ICFAI University, Dehradun did not feel the need to acquire AICTE recognition for running BTech programmes, it acquired recognition for other programmes. The website maintained by the University says that for its law programmes it has Bar Council of India recognition, while for its Bachelors' Programme in Education, it has acquired NCTE’s (National Council of Teacher Education) recognition.
Whether it was the silence of the Bharathidsan case in Law as well as BEd programmes that has led it to seek approval for these courses, is not known.
Meanwhile, the unsolved problem is forcing students to miss out their academic career since 27 March, 2009. The fallout of the impasse over the AICTE affiliation would hit mostly the non-local students, who constitute almost 90% of the BTech students’ strength. “We are mostly from Bihar/Jharkhand, UP, Delhi, West Bengal, while the rest are from Uttarakhand,” said Anuj Kumar Singh, a resident of Patna and a III rd year ECE student, adding that he took admission after reading a survey done by a prominent magazine on ICFAI.
“The survey did not mention whether it has AICTE affiliation or not. But it only ranked private universities as per which ICFAI Hyderabad was placed in good rank,” he recalled.“When we took admission, we never imagined we would run into any sort of problem in the future as it was recognised by UGC and established by a State Act. Now, what we have learnt is that AICTE recognition is of paramount importance,” said Swamy Srivastav, a resident of Faizabad and first year student pursuing Computer Science.
Swamy’s elder brother reportedly is a final year BTech student at ICFAI’s Hyderabad campus. “All BTech students of ICFAI campuses in the rest of India like Bangalore, Jaipur and Hyderabad get their degrees from ICFAI University, Dehradun,” he said, pointing out that this was against law."My brother is more confused than me, as he has successfully bagged a job with a good software company though off-campus placement. By July, he has to produce his certificates, which have to go from ICFAI University, Dehradun," he informed.
Recently, in reply to an RTI query filed by a student of ICFAI University, Dehradun on 16 April (a copy is with Garhwal Post), the UGC on the question whether constituent colleges of ICFAI University, Dehradun were approved by UGC, replied: ICFAI University, Dehradun cannot open any off campus centre beyond the territorial jurisdiction of the state of Uttarakhand as per the decision of the Apex Court in the Prof Yashpal vs Govt of Chattisgarh case. The university also cannot grant affiliation to any college.
http://www.garhwalpost.com/index.php?mod=article&cat=Dehradun&article=1158
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