Edu-leaders

Bratya Basu, West Bengal's Minister for Higher Education, has announced setting up a committee to check if Bengal’s engineering colleges are fulfilling the criteria set by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and take action against those with inadequate infrastructure.

The committee comprises of five members including professors and senior officials of higher education and technical department from Jadavpur University and Bengal Engineering and Science University (BESU).

The panel will conduct surprise inspections throughout the year in any of Bengal's 88 engineering universities and colleges including government and private ones.

According to reports, the committee has the authority to recommend the state government to ask the AICTE to derecognise a government college violating the norms. In case of a private college, it can ask the state government to suggest that the West Bengal University of Technology de-affiliate the college. The panel can also seek information from government institutions like Jadavpur University and BESU. Since the committee might also need to investigate Jadavpur University or BESU, the government has made a provision to temporarily replace the three members from these universities with those at other universities in the state.