JOIN USGovt First Grade College cries for basic amenities
The college with a strength of 600 students and housed in the Government Boys PU Arts and Commerce College premises in Malleswaram 18th Cross, has only one room that serves multiple purpose - staff room for 30 teachers, nine non-teaching staff, principal’s chamber and a library!
Started in August 2007, students of the First Grade College get to attend classes only when classrooms in the PU college are vacant. Classroom schedules change by the day. The college declares holiday for the degree students when the PU students have exams.
The BSc programme has not yet taken off due to lack classrooms.
Four UGC grade lecturers, one each in Chemistry and Botany and two in Physics, who were transferred from private aided colleges in December 2009 could not take classes.
A few lady professors said, “The entire campus has only one toilet which is always locked. We are forced to use Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) campus toilet.
Girls’plight is miserable as the college is housed in the boys’ PU college premises and there is no toilet for girls. Moreover, the girls are not even allowed to use the KEA toilet.”
When asked MLA Ashwathnarayan told Deccan Herald: “We need not construct another building to house the college. We have a two-storey building of which two floors are occupied by CET cell and PU Board. I have repeatedly requested them to vacate. But, there has been no response.”
Ashwathnarayan denied allegations made by various senior citizens’ fora that he neglected the college’s development and deliberately stalled the government’s efforts to provide a building in an open space opposite the PU college.
Clarifying on the deputation of UGC pay scale lecturers who are “under-employed”, Department of Collegiate Education Commissioner Nagamibaka Devi said: “We transferred four lecturers in advance as we did not want students to be affected once the the programme was launched. I will depute them (under-employed) where there is workload. I will speak to CET Cell and PU Board higher-ups about vacating the floors.”
A senior citizens’ forum staged series of protests when efforts were made to construct a building for the college in an open space opposite the PU College. The proposal was dropped after some high-profile persons intervened, it is learnt.
“Land is not a problem for us. We have submitted a proposal for one-and-half acre land near Kendriya Vidyalaya in the same area for the building,” said the staff.