Come September, the State will have a road made of plastic and waste materials, a biomass-based power production unit in a village making it grid-free and a mobile water testing laboratory.

These are some of the projects undertaken by 14 engineering colleges in Karnataka.

These colleges were selected under the Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme (TEQIP) for World Bank grant, to give thrust to technical education and link the engineering colleges with the society.

Speaking to media persons in Bangalore on Monday, Minister for Higher Education, D H Shankaramurthy said, the State had received Rs 17 crore under this project and the government has agreed to provide funds to 14 engineering colleges, including a few private ones.

“The aim is to improve quality of technical education and enhance the existing capacities of the institutions to become dynamic, demand-driven, quality conscious, efficient and responsive to rapid economic and technological developments taking place across the globe,” he said.

The Minister added that, by September this year, a road constructed with plastic and waste material would come up with the help of Poojya Doddappa Appa College of Engineering at Gulbarga.

 “The National Institute of Engineering, Mysore, is coming up with a degradable biomass-based power project to develop a grid-free and a completely energy-independent village. The Malnad College of Engineering, Hassan, will upgrade skills of high school teachers in Physics while Bangalore-based Dr Ambedkar Institute of Technology (DrAIT) will train masons in modern methods of construction.

The Basaveshwara Engineering College at Bagalkot will offer Mobile Water Testing Laboratory,” said the minister
He added that for the first time in the country, private colleges were chosen for the TEQIP project. “Earlier many private colleges were hesitating from taking loans but later, they too have shown interest,” said the Minister.

Mr Shankaramurthy said that the Kuvempu University has signed an MoU with Ghent University of Belgium, to conduct research programme on caste and local culture. Along with it, Kuvempu University, in association with other universities of Karnataka including VTU, has formed the Karnataka Academy of Social Sciences and Humanities.

The aim is to re-invigorate research and education in the social sciences and humanities in the universities and engineering colleges of Karnataka. The Minister further added that soon a Directorate of Sanskrit (Samskrita Nirdeshanalaya) would be set up in the State.

Announcement

  “The Deputy Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa has already announced about the formation of Samskrita Nirdeshanalaya and also made budget allocation for it. After it comes into being, we would try to give it a status of deemed university,” said the Minister. 

When Mr Shankaramurthy was asked about the need for such Nirdeshanalaya, he said, Sanskrit language is like ‘Anatha Shishu’ (Destitute Baby) in its own land. “Even today the Sanskrit research scholars are paid scholarship of Rs 4 per month,” said the Minister.