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The days when education used to be a service and not a business seems like a long time ago. However, here’s an institute with a reminder — with the motive of educating the youth in rural areas of Bangalore and doing their level-best to provide jobs and entrepreneurial skills, is R L Jalappa Institute of Technology.
Located in Doddaballapur in Rural Bangalore, set amidst a sprawling 86-acre campus, filled with various kinds of trees, plants and lush gardens, the institute comes under the ambit of Sri Devaraj Urs Educational Trust (SDUET).
The institute has helped realise the dreams of students from across different classes of society, of parents who have only dreamt of providing their children with higher degrees.
The institute ensures that the facilties provided are nothing less than those found in top institutes in the City. The campus has a swimming pool, gym, sports centre, cultural theatre, dispensary, café and internet available. All the above-mentioned facilities come free of cost, except for the café and dispensary.
Campus features
Approved by AICTE, and ISO 9001: 2000 certified, the institute offers courses in Information Science, Computer Science, Electronics and Communication and Mechanical Engineering with 60 seats in Information Science and 120 seats in the remaining three.
Ninety nine per cent of the campus has been designed by a man who has taken up architecture as a hobby. Head of the Human Resources department, A Yateesh speaks of how the campus has changed since his arrival in 2001 and what it aims to provide.
“We are not here to guarantee 100 per cent placement. We facilitate the process of employment. Our students desperately need jobs after graduation. And unlike those in the city, where in jobs are plenty, our students have to work hard to ensure they get placed,” he says.
“The campus is a testament to the fact that, with a nominal fee structure, it is still possible to maintain world-class standards,” says Yateesh. The fee structure per annum is as follows.
*Electronics and Computer Science courses — Rs 75 000
*Mechanical Engineering course — Rs 90, 000
*Information Sciences — Rs 55, 000
A walk around the campus can take one hours to complete. From vegetables, medicinal plants, fruiting trees, to a temple, a sense of calmness is attained, much of what is lacking in the city. “We use these home-grown plants in our mess and canteen. And this is not for a profit. We try and maintain a pollution and noise-free campus,” says Yateesh.
Fluency in English is a common problem among students who attend this college. With language training modules and attitude and aptitude skill coaching, the ultimate goal is to make every student in the institute “employable”.
With the highest pay package of Rs 4.5 lakhs per annum from a Japan-based company awarded to a student, the institute takes pride in having done half its job. More than 25 companies have come for placement so far.
The campus has also played host to various academic and cultural events. A recruitment drive with Bosch in 2010 saw 8,500 students from across the country come and reside on-campus for the five-day fair. This was aimed at expanding the image of the institute. More than 100 students were recruited and the success of the event has turned into an annual fair, with Wipro soon to visit the campus this month.
Modest start
Even after a decade of starting up, only four courses are offered and with only a handful of specialisation branches. Neither is there an NRI quota nor any collaboration with foreign universities. Khaleel Ahmed, who became Principal in March, wants to focus on filling the seats as a top priority.
Classes started in September, with only half the seats occupied. “This is mainly due to the CET extending certain dates. This reduces the number of seats being filled,” he says. With more than 700 engineering colleges in the neighbouring state, colleges such as Jalappa Institute have to overcome tough competition. More than 50 per cent of students are from Karnataka, many from Rural Bangalore and the rest from North Indian states.
Apart from academics, the student community has brought accolades through cultural performances at VTU, Bangalore University, and other state university fests.