Stuck With Invalid Degrees, Students of Engineering College in Malda Demand Justice
Originally published at https://thewire.in on 28 August, 2018.
Malda, West Bengal: Eight hundred students of the Ghani Khan Choudhury Institute of Engineering and Technology (GKCIET) in Malda are left out in the cold. After studying at the institute for as long as six years, the students have discovered their degrees to be invalid. They now have no career options left.
GKCIET was established in 2010 under the aegis of the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) during the Congress-led UPA government’s tenure. The institution received large amounts of funds from the Central government. National Institute of Technology (NIT) Durgapur was picked to be GKCIET’s mentor institute.
However, from the very outset, the institute violated rules and put students’ careers at risk.
The college began admitting students in 2010, despite none of its courses being recognised. It also had no affiliations to other institutions at that time. Four years later, the West Bengal State Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Skill Development (WBSCTE) gave affiliation for its diploma courses. The Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology (MAKAUT), Kolkata, gave affiliation to B.Tech courses in 2018.
Although the diploma courses were affiliated to WBSCTE, the +2 course was not recognised as an equivalent to higher secondary education in India, which makes them useless. Even the diploma courses were not considered equivalent to polytechnic diploma offered in India as the standardised tenure of a recognised polytechnic diploma is three years, while the GKCIET course is only two years.
GKCIET’s course structure, at variance with that followed by institutions across India, has put the students at an acute disadvantage. The issue was raised in the Rajya Sabha by the CPI(M) MP Ritabrata Banerjee on August 9. In response, the MHRD said, “GKCIET runs non-formal, diploma and graduate-level courses in the field of engineering. The diploma level courses and the graduate level courses in engineering at GKCIET, Malda, are affiliated to the West Bengal State Council for Technical & Vocational Education and Skill Development and MAKAUT respectively. The recognition to diploma level programme was accorded by West Bengal State Council for Technical & Vocational Education and Skill Development for batches passing from 2014 onwards and the graduate level programme was recognised by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology (MAKAUT) in the year 2018. MAKAUT has not given recognition to the graduate programme of GKCIET of batches prior to 2018.”
Student protests
Frustrated and desperate students have been waging a dogged fight over the last two years to get due recognition for the time spent at the institute. So far, the protests have evoked no redressal from the authorities concerned — neither at the government not institution level.
Scaling up the protests, the students came to Kolkata on August 10. Nearly 40 students have been staging a sit-in protest outside the gates of the Academy of Fine Arts in Kolkata. Nazmul Haq, a student with a certificate deemed as ‘fake’, was on a hunger strike for 12 days. He was admitted to the hospital on August 18 due to medical emergency. The students have found support among the locals, who donate money or sponsor meals.
Shain Zahedi, one of the students who launched the protest, informed they had their first whiff of suspicion when the first batch of students passed the diploma courses offered by college, but received no certificate for the same. Many students wished to pursue higher education in other colleges; hence they started urging the college to provide them with a certificate. As the situation did not change for two months, the students protested on campus for 26 days in June 2016. To draw public attention to their plight, they blocked a public road for five hours in Malda and staged a ‘ rail roko ‘ for three hours.
“We were informed that the WBSCTE will provide affiliation to diploma courses and MHRD has written a letter specifying that NIT Durgapur will be giving affiliation for the B.Tech course. The additional district magistrate (general) of Malda, asked us to withdraw our protest,” said Shain Zahedi.
However, the students soon discovered their certificates have no recognition when they approached other institutes or applied for jobs. A frustrated bunch of students then renewed their protest, deciding to shift their protest to NIT Durgapur. “We were forced to bring our struggle to Kolkata after all the organisations failed us. We have written repeated emails to MHRD. A deputation has been submitted to the education minister Partha Chaterjee, chief minister Mamata Banerjee and governor Keshari Nath Tripathi. We have received no response from them,” informed Shain Zahedi, a student.
The college was shut down in last January and there were no admissions from 2016 and 2017. However, after MAKAUT endorsed affiliation, admission were conducted for 2018–19. It will now have a four-year B.Tech course.
Tensions however continue to dog the campus. On August 17, brawls between students and faculty members broke out inside the college campus. The protesting students alleged that dean Nilkantha Barman, joined by two other laboratory assistants, assaulted the students, injuring some. Women students were allegedly threatened with rape, their clothes torn, molested and manhandled by faculty members.
Who is to be blamed?
As the fate of 800 students hangs by a thread, authorities concerned are unwilling to take responsibility for the mess. While minister of state for human resource development responsible for higher education, Satya Pal Singh, in his reply to the Rajya Sabha question did not mention providing valid certificates to the aggrieved students. The state government has also shown no interest in the issue.
Refuting the allegations of students, GKCIET director Parameshwar Rao Alapati said the diploma certificates offered by the college are valid as they are recognised by the WBSCTE.
Regarding the B.Tech course which was run without affiliation, he said, “I have no answer for this question because those who were at the helm of affairs in 2014 are not with the institute anymore. The current faculty were apparently not in decision making positions then.”
An August 11 press release by GKCIET stated that MHRD had written to MAKAUT authorities on May 28, 2018 to consider the lateral entry of diploma students into the second year of B.Tech programme. The decision, however, is still pending approval. The press release elaborates that most matters regarding the certificates are pending approval from the higher authorities. Meanwhile, students continue to languish in uncertainty.
Inspector of colleges of MAKAUT Swapan Kumar Maity stated that the university bears no responsibility for the students who were admitted to the college prior to 2018. “We are not bothered about the students of previous batches. That is not our lookout. Only students from the 2018–19 batch and onwards will be MAKAUT’s responsibility,” he said.
All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), the statutory body for approving technical courses in the country, told student petitioners that GKCIET was affiliated to the Visva Bharati University in Santiniketan. Visva Bharati University does not have the power to affiliate a technical college since it doesn’t offer technical education.
No jobs
Getting a job has proved difficult for many GKCIET students. Subrata Mondal, after completing his diploma from GKCIET, applied for a job in the technical department of the Indian Coast Guard office in Rajarhat, Kolkata.
“During the document verification stage, I was told that the certificate is invalid. I tried to negotiate with the authorities, frantically trying to convince them. I even told them that they could call the Dean of GKCIET to confirm. I was still rejected,” said Mondal.
Nisha Yadav, a student from Arunachal Pradesh was confronted with a similar situation when she applied for a B.Tech degree from an Engineering college in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh. “After completing my diploma, I had applied to Vidya College of Engineering. They said that the pattern of the course was not recognised by any Indian university. Despite my telling them that the college will provide written proof of the course structure, they refused to give me admission,” she added.
Yadav also informed that the girls’ hostel of GKCIET, which was located 10 km away from the main campus, did not have a mess facility since 2014. The students had to arrange for their own meals. The protesting students have also claimed that the institute lacked a library, despite the website showing a list of books available in the institute library. Several students have complained that the laboratories lacked proper infrastructure and equipment. Classes, according to them, were irregular and inconsistent.
While the people in position of power have turned away from the protesting students, the Association for Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR), Kolkata has put its weight behind the protesters.
Nisha Biswas, a member of APDR, said, “This is huge callousness on the college’s part. The state government, MHRD, Central government and NIT Durgapur are all responsible for this. The faculty members and administrative officials are paid huge salaries according to the Seventh Pay Commission and hence, are not bothered about the situation. I will support these students and I hope something positive comes out of their struggle.”
The students of notable universities in the state, the Jadavpur University, Presidency University, Bardhaman University and few other colleges have also lent their support to the students’ struggle.
Meanwhile, the students have also decided to take up the matter legally. Their lawyer Subhashish Chakraborty is expected to soon send a legal notice to the college authorities. “Our law firm is planning to file a public interest litigation (PIL) in the Calcutta high court after we send the notice. The fate of 800 students cannot be ignored,” said Subhashish Chakraborty.
