Anna University will launch a comprehensive inspection of the infrastructure of its affiliated private engineering colleges with low enrollment and placement rates in April, according to university officials. The inspection will be thorough and no leniency will be given if a college is found to be lacking in infrastructure.
The university, which has 494 affiliated colleges, considers enrolment exceeding 80% as an indicator of strong infrastructure, according to Vice Chancellor R Velraj. "As such, we will not waste time conducting physical inspections at such colleges. Instead, we will focus on those colleges with low enrolments and placement rates," he told The New Indian Express.
According to Vice Chancellor R Velraj, Anna University will not show leniency to affiliated colleges that lack sufficient faculty, classrooms, laboratories, and other necessary resources during the upcoming inspection. He stated in a report by The New Indian Express that it would be better for such colleges to shut down as they cause problems for both the university and students.
Last year, after a two-year pause due to the pandemic, Anna University inspected the infrastructure of all its affiliated colleges and found that nearly 50% of them were lacking. As a result, the university issued show-cause notices to 225 engineering colleges, with a majority of them resolving the issues and submitting compliance reports.
"Last year, an affiliation of only four colleges wasn't renewed over a lack of infrastructure. We were a bit lenient as the colleges had just reopened after the pandemic. This year, however, we will thoroughly check the infrastructure of the colleges, especially of those that failed the inspection last year," said a university official.
The officials said affiliated colleges that were unable to address their shortcomings last year were given multiple opportunities to do so through the issuance of show-cause notices. However, this year, the affiliation of colleges without sufficient infrastructure will not be renewed, as reported in The New Indian Express.
