PRESENT POSITION AND PLANS OF THE COLLEGES OF FURTHER DEVELOPMENT
4.001. In this chapter we shall deal with the present state of development of the colleges, their plans for further development and our general recommendations. We are also adding a note on the UNDP/UNESCO project-Post-graduate Education of Engineers-which has been operating in selected Regional Engineering Colleges over the last 9 years.
4.002. In part A of this chapter we are recommending our general approach to the facilities to be provided in the Central Engineering Colleges.In part B, we are reporting on the present state of development of individual colleges and their plans for future and in part C, we are presenting a note on the Post-Graduate Education of Engineers under the UNDP project.
A. GENERAL APPROACH 4.003. Annexures VII, VIII and IX show the grants and loans paid to the colleges by the Central Government as follows:-
Annexure VII: Part A-Non-Recurring Grants Part B-Recurring Grants
Annexure VIll: Loans for Hostels and Repayments
Annexure IX : Loans and Grants for Staff quarters and repayment of Loans.
4.004. The various colleges, in their reports submitted to the Reviewing Committee, furnished particulars of the facilities to be made good in accordance with the scheme and their estimated costs along with future plans for development and their estimated costs.
4.005. . Making specific financial recommendations in respect of each of the institutions for making good the present deficiencies or to meet their future plans of development is not included in the terms of reference given
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to us. Moreover, in the very short time that was available to us at each college, a detailed estimate of such requirements was also not possible. In the present position of each college, we had shown the proposals made by the colleges. We are, however, required to recommend the future set up of the colleges including pattern of financing from Central and State resources, to ensure their functioning as all-India institutions of high quality and standard. It is in the context of this reference that we are making certain general observations in the light of our visits and discussions with the staff and students.
4.006. In this, our approach is, principally ensuring fulfilment of the initial scheme as originally envisaged, in respect of each college. We are also listing minimum general facilities and amenities to be made available in each campus, although many of them are already included in the original scheme. As regards the future development, almost all institutions have made ambitious plans involving considerable financial inputs for their achievement. Thus the sum total of the requirements of all the colleges may well exceed Rs. 10.00 crores recurring and Rs. 15.00 crores nonrecurring over the next five year period whereas the provision for the colleges in the 5th Plan, as we understand, is only Rs. 10.5 crores.
4.007 We are also aware that the development proposals can be approved only by the All-India Council for Technical Education and the Post-Graduate Board. It will also be necessary to consider manpower requirements in specific fields and the existing facilities before specific recommendations are made. Therefore, we have not attempted any such recommendations in respect of the proposals made by each college.
4.008. The main reason, for additional finances required for making good the deficiencies, is that the costs have gone up since the original estimates were made. For instance, equipment which could have been procured in 1956 at an estimated cost of Rs. 29 lakhs has reached about Rs. 50 lakhs in 1973. Similarly, building costs have gone up very high. Obviously, institutions which have come in later will have to be provided additional funds to build their facilities to the level envisaged in the scheme.
4.009. As far as buildings are concerned, approvals are given on the basis of area to be constructed and usual specifications. Additional costs on account of buildings will, therefore, have to be given, on the basis of prevalent costs of construction when they are put up. This has also been spelt out clearly in the initial scheme.
4.010. Institutions have advanced the following reasons for additional funds on- account of equipment to make good the deficiencies:
(a) The cost of equipment has gone up considerably since the original estimates were made.
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(b) In the case of earlier institutions, some equipment needs replacement and modernization.
(c) Additional equipment has to be provided to meet the requirements of university to which they are affiliated, and
(d) Provision of elective subjects requires additional specialised equipment.
4.011, Almost all these institutions are comparatively of recent origin even the earliest one is only 14 years old. It would, therefore, appear, that it is too early to think of replacement of equipment. Nevertheless, there is some justification for a small additional allocation for replacement and modernisation in respect of the older institutions. We suggest that institutions which have completed their equipment programme for undergraduate courses and with longer than 10 years' standing should be provided a sum of Rs. 5.00 lakhs each and those between 5-10 years' standing should be provided a sum of Rs. 2 lakhs for this purpose.
4.012. For compensating higher costs of equipment incurred by the institutions started in later years, we suggest that the overall cost differential should be provided on a straight-line variation basis as indicated below.
An institution which has completed its equipment programme in 1956 could have done so at a cost of Rs. 29 lakhs and an Institution which has completed its programme in 1973 could do so only at a cost of Rs. 50 lakhs. Thus approximately over 16 years, the cost differential is Rs. 21 lakhs. We, therefore, suggest that from 1956 onwards for every year delay in completing the equipment programme, an amount equal to 5% of the cost of remaining equipment may be added to cover rise in prices.
4.013, We are listing below facilities which, in our view, each Regional Engineering College should provide. Some of them are already included in the initial scheme. We strongly recommend that financial provision for others which do not find a place in the scheme should now be made.
(i) The computer has become a very valuable tool in Engineering Analysis and Design. It is, therefore, necessary that every engineering graduate should be trained in the use of computer and that he should learn not only basic programming but the use of advanced special purpose programmes. Each college should be provided with a small computer like the TDC 12 or equivalent manufactured by ECIL Hyderabad along with some provision for its maintenance. We suggest that a provision of Rs. 5 lakhs for the computer and Rs. 100,000 per year for software and Rs. 20,000 per year for staff and maintenance would be adequate.
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(ii) In our visits we have seen some un-utilised equipment lying in some colleges and we were told in many cases that this is because of non-availability of spare parts. It is necessary that adequate arrangements should [De made for the provision of spares and upkeep of such equipment both at the college level and also at the regional level. At the regional level the work, we believe, can be undertaken by the Central Instruments Organisation and the Institutes of Technology.
(iii) The library grant at present provided for the college is inadequate and we suggest that a college with a good number of post-graduate courses and activity should be given an allocation of Rs. 1.5 lakhs per year and others an allocation of Rs. 1 lakh per year for library books and journals. We also recommend a book bank to be established in each college for the use of students.
(iv) Every college should have a language laboratory provided in the Department of Humanities. We estimate that this would cost about Rs. 20,000/-.
(v) The following recreational facilities should be provided in each college :-
(a) Developed playground : 15O X 200 yds. or approximately 6 acres.
(b) A club facility for indoor games.
(c) A community Hall-15,000 sft. for 1500 people and another covered one of 10,000 sft. for multi-purpose use. The total area provided should thus be 25.000 sft. Total Provision for this should be about Rs. 10 lakhs.
(d) There should also be an open air auditorium in each college. A provision of Rs. 1 lakh should be adequate for this purpose.
(e) There should be a cafeteria on each campus.
(vi) Other Amenities: (a) Health facilities provided on the campus should have a first aid dispensary and a six-bed hospital with a resident Medical Officer.
(b) For the education of children of staff members each campus should have a primary school and in addition a bus for school children attending higher classes in local schools.
(c) There should be Bank and Post Office facilities on each campus.
(d) The colleges should provide accommodation for 100 per cent of the student population, 75 to 100 percent of teaching staff,
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50-75 per cent for class III and 25-50 per cent for class IV staff .
The provision of residential accommodation for class III and class IV should depend upon the local availability of living accommodation for them. In particular we recommend that colleges located in steel towns of Durgapur, Jamshedpur and Rourkela should provide more houses for class III and class IV employees than in other areas.
For the construction of staff quarters, we suggest that the number of types at present used, should be reduced. The floor areas provided should also be reduced so that even with the increased costs, more units of accommodation are made available.
(vii) New Course (a) We recommend that as a rule wherever new courses at the undergraduate level are approved in the colleges, they should be adjusted within the existing approved intake of 250 per year, since this is a good manageable size for a good institution.
(b) New Under-graduate courses, we believe, will be recommended by the AICTE only if required by assessed manpower needs.
(c) Whenever a subject of electrical engineering is changed into Electronics or the subject of Electronics is introduced, changes in the syllabus and contents alongwith some adjustments in the equipment requirements only should be provided. There would be no justification for increased staff on account of this.
(viii) There should be a provision of Rs. 10,000/- per college per year for expenses of staff members visiting industries in connection with industry oriented post-graduate and other courses.
4.014. The Institutions have been finding it very difficult to repay the loan instalments for loans given for hostels and staff quarters. It will be seen from Annexure VIII that about Rs. 6.5 crores was given as loan for the construction of hostel from 1960-61 till 1970-71. The colleges have been able to refund only an amount of Rs. 1.9 crores leaving a balance of about Rs. 4.5 crores loan to be repaid. Again, from Annexure IX, it will be seen that upto 1971-72, an amount of Rs. 2.32 crores was given as loan for the construction of staff quarters and the colleges have been able to refund an amount of only Rs. 0.68 crores, leaving a balance of Rs. 2.25 crores of loan to be repaid.
4.015: When the scheme was formulated in 1959-60, it was visualised that income from seat rent will be adequate to return the interest free
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loans for hostels, over a period of 25 years. On account of increase in the cost of construction and student intake having also been reduced from 1968-69, it was not possible for the college to make repayments of loan instalments. It is also not possible to increase the seat rent to any value higher than what is prevalent in other central institutions like the Institutes of Technology. Similarly, in the case of loans for staff quarters it will not be possible to increase the rent, to more than 10 percent of the salary of the employees. Moreover, a fair amount of money has to be spent, on the maintenance and upkeep of these buildings.
4.016. In the circumstances mentioned above, it appears that it will not be possible for the colleges to repay the loan amounts for a very long time. The Central Government having spent large sums of money in their establishment, we have made the recommendation that the liability of maintaining these Institutions should be taken over by the Central Government. We, therefore, further recommend that the loans paid for the construction of hostels and staff quarters should be treated as grants, as in the case of other Central Institutions, viz., Institutes of Technology. Seat rents in the case of hostels and rents recovered from staff members occupying quarters, should be credited to the income of the colleges and central grants may be paid only on the basis of net deficit.
4.017. The total recurring expenditure of the 14 Regional Engineering Colleges in the last year of the current plan period is of the order of Rs. 4 crores. This amount is shared equally between the Central and the State Governments. The colleges will have to complete the provisions in the original scheme and in addition, the 15th college, namely, the one at Silchar, has to be fully financed in the 5th Plan period. The carry over of the unfulfilled part of the original scheme and the implementation of the general recommendations we made above, will require a provision of approximately Rs. 18.5 crores in the 5th Plan period in addition to the continuation of the expenditure by the Central and State Governments together of Rs. 4 crores per year. An estimate of this requirement is given below:
1. Completion of the original scheme.
(i) Instructional buildings Rs. 150 lakhs
(ii) Equipment with provision for increased costs Rs. 200 lakhs
(iii) Staff quarters and Amenities Rs. 150 lakhs
(iv) Silchar College Rs. 150 lakhs
(v) Carry over of expenditure on post-graduates Rs. 100 lakhs
courses
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Rs. 750 lakhs
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2. Provision for implementing recommendations made in this
report.
(i) Computers and their running costs Rs. 100 lakhs
(ii) Additional library grants and language
laboratories Rs. 100 lakhs
(iii) Impact of revision of salary scales Rs. 250 lakhs
(iv) Industrial liaison units and provision for
staff contacts with industry Rs. 50 lakhs
(v) Support to individual staff research
programmes Rs. 90 lakhs
(vi) Establishment of the Council of Central Engineering
Colleges Rs. 10 lakhs
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Total Rs. 600 lakhs
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3. Provision for courses and schemes that may be approved
by the AICTE or the Post-Graduate Board.
(i) New under-graduate courses Rs. 200 lakhs
(ii) Post-graduate courses Rs. 200 lakhs
(iii) Problem-oriented research laboratories Rs. 100 lakhs
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Total Rs. 500 lakhs
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Grand total (Rs. 750 + Rs. 600 + Rs. 500) = Rs. 1850 lakhs
B. PROGRESS OF THE COLLEGES AND THEIR DEVELOPMENT
PLANS
1. Regional Engineering College, Warangal 4.018. The college was started in 1959 in the Government Polytechnic and other buildings in Warangal, with an admission of 250 students. The college was shifted to the new buildings in its own campus of 240.76 acres in 1962. The annual intake was reduced to 200 from 1968-69 on account of industrial recession and reduced employment of engineers. From 1973-74, the annual admission has been increased to 220.
4.019. The college offers degree courses in Civil, Electrical, Mechanical and Chemical Engineering, Metallurgy, Electronics and Communication Engineering with overall admissions restricted to 220 per year. The
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college is also approved for the following postgraduate courses
1 . M. E. in Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering.
2. M. E. in Hydraulics Engineering.
3. M. E. in Structural Engineering.
4. M. E. in Power Systems Engineering.
5. M. E. in Electrical Machines.
6. M. E. in Heat Power Engineering.
7. M. Tech. Design and Production Engineering (Machine Tools).
8. M. Tech. Electronics Instrumentation.
9. M. Tech. Transportation Engineering.
10. M. Tech. Hydraulics and Water Resources Engineering.
11. M. Tech. Chemical Plant Engineering.
12. M. Sc. (Tech.) Engineering Physics.
13. M. Sc. Applied Mathematics.
4.020. Post-graduate courses at S.Nos. 6-13 were introduced as industry-oriented M-Tech. courses with assistance from UNDP. With en- couraging experience gained from the industry-oriented courses, post- graduate courses at S.No. 1-6 which were initially of the conventional type were also converted to the industry-oriented type. The post- graduate course at S.No. 2 was, however, dropped in view of the course at S.No. 10, with UNDP assistance. The approved enrolment for the 12 post-graduate courses now functioning is 240 in both years of the M.Tech courses.