No permanent campus for 46 govt colleges

Bhartesh Singh Thakur

Chandigarh, March 12

There are 46 government colleges in Haryana (around 27%) that don’t have their own building, while 127 (over 74%) are functioning without regular principals.

The state government had submitted the data in reply to a question of Congress MLA Jagbir Singh Malik during the Legislative Assembly session.

Government College for Women, Ambala City, came up in 2012-13 while Government College, Assandh (Karnal), in 2014-15, but both the institutions are running from rented buildings. Education Minister Kanwar Pal Gujjar submitted before the House that 46 colleges that don’t have their own buildings included six in Karnal, four each in Hisar, Gurugram and Sonepat, and three each in Faridabad, Rewari and Sirsa.

Work in progress

The High Court has stayed the promotion of principals due to which the posts are vacant. Hopefully, the stay will be vacated soon. Also, we’ve got the land for a few colleges recently. The construction will start for most of the colleges soon. —Anand Mohan Sharan, ACS, Higher Education Department

Government College, Nahar (Rewari), has been without a regular principal for eight years. Also, Government College, Krishan Nagar (Mahendragarh), doesn’t have a regular principal for the past seven years. Of a total of 171 government colleges in the state, 127 are without regular principals, which comes to over 74%.

Talking to The Tribune, Additional Chief Secretary (ACS), Higher Education Department and Technical Education Department, Anand Mohan Sharan said, “The Punjab and Haryana High Court has stayed the promotion of principals. That is why the posts are vacant. We hope that the stay will be vacated soon.”

On colleges without their own buildings, he replied, “We have got the land for a few institutions recently. The building plans are being prepared. In coming months, the construction work will start for mostly all such colleges. There are only a few cases where the land is not finalised.”

Meanwhile, Congress leader Jagbir Singh Malik had also sought the list of colleges, where the number of students is less than 200. In reply, the Education Minister has submitted that there are 16 government colleges and 29 self-financed colleges where the strength of students is less than 200. These include Government College, Morni (Panchkula), with 17 students — 11 females and six males — while Shri Mata Mansa Devi Sanskrit Government College, Panchkula, with 22 students — three females and 19 males.

Among the self-financed colleges, Lala CB Aggarwal Memorial College for Women, Hassanpur (Palwal), has just seven students, all females, while DPG Degree College, Gurugram, has 12, including eight females and four males. Rao Mool Chand Degree College, Mahendragarh, has a total of 15 students with four females and 11 males, while Shri Santi Sagar Jain Kanya Mahavidyalaya, Nuh, has just 20 female students.

“The government keeps announcing new colleges but doesn’t provide infrastructure or fill the vacancies. How can a college function without a principal? Who will take the responsibility? Perhaps, the case is not being pursued properly in the High Court. Also, there is no point in opening colleges without providing all subjects.

For instance, science subjects are not provided in rural areas,” Malik said.