World Bank tentacles dig deeper now over 15 engineering colleges under direct influence in Karnataka

World Bank aid for 15 engineering colleges

By Nagesh Prabhu

BANGALORE, OCT. 17. The World Bank has agreed to release a loan of Rs. 250 crores for 15 engineering colleges in the State to enhance the quality of technical education under the Technical Education Quality Improvement Project (TEQIP).

The Project Implementation Unit of the Union Human Resources Development Ministry and the World Bank have accepted the Rs. 250-crore proposal by the Department of Technical Education of Karnataka. The project will start in December this year and will end in June 2008, K. Basavaraju, Director, Department of Technical Education, told The Hindu .

The loan is expected to help the colleges transform themselves into "centres of excellence" with all facilities. The funds would be utilised to upgrade infrastructure, purchase equipment, research and training of the teaching staff and develop new teaching methods. A high-level committee of the Union HRD Ministry would evaluate the implementation of the programme in each college, he said. Each college had already prepared an action plan for development of technological education and forwarded it to the HRD Ministry, Prof. Basavaraju said.

Beneficiary colleges

The colleges that would receive the loan are: University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering (UVCE), BMS College of Engineering, Ambedkar Institute of Technology, M.S. Ramaiah Institute of Technology, all in Bangalore; Siddaganga Institute of Technology and Sri Siddartha Institute of Technology, both in Tumkur; Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering, and National Institute of Engineering, Mysore; Malnad College of Engineering, Hassan; Basaveshwara Engineering College, Bagalkot; Sri Dhamasthala Manjunatheswara College of Engineering and Technology, Dharwad; Nitte Mahalinga Adyanthaya Memorial Institute of Technology, Nitte; University BDT College of Engineering, Davangere; Poojya Doddappa College of Engineering, Gulbarga; and National Institute of Technology Karnataka (NITK), Surathkal.

Prof. Basavaraju said that six States had been included in the first phase of the quality improvement project. Lead institutions

Five colleges — UVCE, Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering, Mysore, Nitte Mahalinga Adyanthaya Memorial Institute of Technology, Nitte, Basaveshwara Engineering College, Bagalkot, and NITK, Surathkal, had been identified as "lead institutions" and each would get a loan of Rs. 25 crores to Rs. 50 crores. Other colleges had been designated as "networking institutions" and would get Rs. 5 crores to Rs. 10 crores. The "networking institutions" would share the resources and infrastructure with other engineering colleges. The "lead institutions" would be transformed into a centre of international excellence, he said.

All selected colleges have received recognition from the All India Centre for Technological Education (AICTE), New Delhi. The NITK, Surathkal would receive the funds directly from the Centre since it is a deemed university. Other colleges would receive funds through the Technical Education Department, Prof. Basavaraju said.

The colleges will have to repay the loan over a period of 20 years.

http://www.hinduonnet.com/2004/10/18/stories/2004101801500400.htm