Irregularities in 12 colleges, HPU panels under a cloud

Bhanu P Lohumi

Tribune News Service

Shimla, December 14

Doubts have been raised over committees constituted by Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) to inspect affiliated private colleges, as several irregularities have been found in 12 colleges.

Several violations have been found in 12 colleges in a random inspection of private degree, nursing, B.Ed and veterinary colleges in Shimla, Solan and Sirmaur districts by the teams constituted by the Himachal Pradesh Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Commission (HPPERC).

They found that the HPU had not obtained the approval of the faculty, the student-teacher ratio was inadequate, security deposits of students graduated from colleges were not refunded, school and colleges were functioning in the same building, nomenclatures of some colleges were doubtful, and violations of the UGC guidelines,” said Major Gen Atul Kaushik (retd), Chairman of the HPPERC.

In some cases, technical courses had not been approved by the AICTE and examinations had not been conducted for the past one and a half year, he said. It had also come to light that in some colleges examinations were held on the same campus with internal superintendents, he added.

The commission also recommended de-affiliation of Lakshya College, Arki, after several violations were noticed. There were no student and teacher in the college since October and the institution’s management did not submit the required documents.

HPU, HPTU and Agriculture University, Palampur, had been directed to take appropriate action against the erring colleges, Maj Gen Kaushik said.