The Karnataka state government is all set to construct a new building for the University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering (UVCE) at Jnanabharathi and has also earmarked a budget of Rs 100 crore to build this new campus, on the same lines as the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) campuses.
The Karnataka Cabinet, on Thursday, September 26, approved to release Rs 100 crore out of the total Rs 500 crore earmarked for the development of UCVE for this purpose.
However, this decision has sparked disagreement among the students of the technical university.
To recall, students and various associations have been voicing concerns regarding fee hikes and a shortage of staff at the university, ever since it gained autonomous status in 2022.
Now, students have expressed frustration that the state government has chosen to allocate funds for a new campus instead of addressing the ongoing issues at the existing campus.
“When I joined my course in 2020, my fee was Rs 19,900. It was Rs 33,000 in the second year; Rs 38,000 in my third year; and now, it is Rs 47,000 for the government seats,” shared a student, on the condition of anonymity, who graduated from the university this year.
“There is a lack of proper infrastructure, and no permanent faculty has been recruited in nearly two decades; the university relies on guest and contract-based faculty. On the other hand, they have doubled the student intake and tuition fees. They can go ahead with the new building but it's essential to prioritise quality at the existing campus first. The focus should be on enhancing facilities, recruiting more faculty, and providing adequate infrastructure for both students and professors,” he further added.
Students have also raised concerns about the university's 75:25 intake system, where 25 per cent of seats are filled through the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA), while the remaining seats are filled through the state-conducted Common Entrance Test (CET). They worry that this system may negatively impact domicile students, particularly those from rural backgrounds who cannot afford coaching classes.
Moreover, the proposal for a new building raises questions about the future of the heritage UVCE building at KR Circle, which has stood for over a century.
In a statement, the All India Democratic Students' Organisation (AIDSO), said, “The building in KR circle has a heritage of 100 and more years. It was Visvesvaraya's dream. Ever since the college was made a self-financed institution, students and teachers have been fighting every year to get funds from the government. In such a scenario for whose welfare is the new 100 crore building being built? In such a case, what will be the future of the existing building in KR circle?”
EdexLive made multiple attempts to contact the UVCE administration for a comment but did not receive a response.
