With as many as 135 degree and 169 diploma engineering institutions, it can be fairly stated that technical education has considerably expanded in Maharashtra. What needs to be stressed now is that realisation of academic excellence is a far cry with about 50 per cent vacant posts for teachers and lack of infrastructure facilities in privately owned institutions.

And these teachers are also a dissatisfied lot with the Maharashtra Government and the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) creating unnecessary problems for them. This is an unfortunate fact. The state Government knowingly practices discrimination and foments agitation to the detriment of the student community. If these engineering institutions are to be encouraged to realise academic excellence, the teaching community should be kept happy at all times and the controlling authorities should see that the institutes have all infrastructure facilities, staff and equipment and are properly managed.

If the state Government will have its way, thousands of teachers in 110 unaided engineering colleges will lose arrears of as many as 55 months, a huge amount, which no individual who has earned it will allow to be lost.

It so happened that the higher and technical education department had correctly issued a Government Resolution (GR) in relation to revision of pay scales for all teachers in the technology faculty including those working in the unaided technical institutions.

However, the new GR issued on October 4, 2000 changed the policy decision already taken by the government and notified that the unaided engineering institutions could be released from the liability of paying arrears of 55 months by providing in the GR that implementation may be done from August 1, 2000 instead of January 1,1996.

This is sheer discrimination. It is unfair, unjust and unconstitutional. While college and university teachers all over the country had become entitled to revised pay scales with effect from January 1,1996, the Maharashtra Government adopted a different posture in respect to teachers in unaided engineering institutions. The teachers in government-owned engineering institutions got their accumulated arrears from January 1,1996. The government can pay from its own treasury, but it wants to protect unaided engineering institutions due to paucity of funds.

The constitutional controlling and regulations body in the field of technical education is the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), which was set up in 1987. The preamble of the AICTE Act, 1987 says it is being set up with a view to proper planning and co-ordinate development of the technical education system throughout the country, the promotion of qualitative improvements of such education in relation to planned quantitative growth and the regulation and proper maintenance of norms and standards in the technical education system.

But it seems that the AICTE has yet to mature. Various courts all over the country have remarked that the AICTE has created a bigger mess than proper maintenance of norms and standards in the technical education system. This can be illustrated in relation to a couple of decisions taken with regard to Maharashtra during the academic year that has just ended. The colleges rightly point out that the admission process of first year engineering had to be halted twice. How did this happen?

When 70 per cent of admissions were over, the AICTE gave permission to two new engineering colleges to be set up by two politicians. Again when the admissions began, the AICTE announced 5,000 more intakes for Information Technology (IT) and Computer-related courses. The whole admission process was reverted. The admission process continued till October end.

The AICTE should not cause agony to the student community by taking sudden decisions. It should take all decisions in advance, if possible latest by the end of March and announce them well before the admission process.

The teachers point out that the AICTE machinery does not help at all in enhancing the standards of technical education. As per the AICTE guidelines, its inspection team should carry out inspections for at least three days to decide recognition to any technical institution. However, in practice, it is found that the inspection team visits even three or more institutes in a single day. And sometimes recognition is granted even without actual visits.

Out of 776 degree engineering institutions and 1215 diploma engineering institutions in the country, 60 per cent degree institutions and 56 per cent diploma institutions are concentrated in just four states viz Andhra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra. Also out of the total 776 degree engineering institutions all over India, 72 per cent are run by private bodies and only 28 per cent run by the government.

Of the 1215 diploma engineering institutions, 42 per cent are run by private bodies and trusts while the balance 58 per cent are run by the government.

In Maharashtra, 110 of the 135 engineering degree institutions are owned by private bodies and trusts and 105 out of 169 diploma institutions are owned by private managements.

The AICTE also practices discrimination in regard to the requirements of qualifications for teachers posts in government engineering colleges and private engineering institutions. The AICTE has issued recruitment rules for teaching posts in Government Engineering Colleges. As per these rules, a PhD is not the minimum requirement for recruitment to the posts of a professor and assistant professor in government institutions; however, in self-financed private institutions a PhD is an essential requirement. With the existing requirement of masters degree, nearly 50 per cent posts are already vacant. With the PhD norm, it will be almost impossible to fill up these posts.

The teaching community is worried because a large number of private engineering institutions have not fully implemented the revised pay scales. According to the state level working committee of the Faculty of Engineering and Technology, the revised pay scales as recommended by the Fifth Pay Commission are implemented in about 50 engineering institutions but are yet to be implemented in the remaining 60 engineering institutions.

The appointment of temporary lecturers is being done on consolidated salaries. As their qualification and work is the same as that of permanently appointed lecturers, their appointment on consolidated salary is illegal and should be stopped immediately.

All these problems are not conducive to the realisation of academic excellence. The state Government and the AICTE should strive to solve all these issues, redress the grievances of the teaching community and create ideal conditions in the interest of the student community and the nation. The engineering educational institutions should be encouraged to attain academic excellence.