Students were re-allotted seats in other institutes

Over 200 students were re-allotted seats in other institutes after two engineering colleges in Bengaluru requested for closure citing lack of funds. The re-allotment for students of Yellamma Dasappa Institute of Technology and Sri Vidya Vinayaka Institute of Technology took place on Tuesday.

A notification by the Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) stated that students who were eligible as well as those who had not cleared their exams for higher semesters have been allotted seats. Even if students have backlog papers, they can attend classes in the allotted colleges.

The process was carried out by a committee which was formed by the university. The students will have to pay the same fees that they had agreed to at the time of being granted admission.

VTU Vice Chancellor Dr. Karisiddappa said that, henceforth, no admission will be made to the two colleges for the 2019-20 academic year either through the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) or Consortium of Medical, Engineering and Dental Colleges of Karnataka (COMEDK).

M.K. Panduranga Setty, president of the Karnataka Unaided Private Engineering Colleges' Association, said that many other engineering colleges are suffering and finding it difficult to sustain themselves. “Many colleges have less than 30% intake and are unable to pay salaries to their staff,” he said. Several managements are looking for potential clients to sell their colleges as they are no longer profitable.

H.U. Talwar, Director, Department of Technical Education, said that Karnataka has 207 engineering colleges. The All Indian Council for Technical Education had sent closure notices to 800 engineering colleges across India where admissions were poor for five consecutive years, and had asked them to consider closing down the institutions.