As 'aeronautical engineering' college turns out to be no more than a 'training institute' running without any recognition, over 200 students are left in the lurch after having paid the Rs 1 lakh fees
As 'aeronautical engineering' college turns out to be no more than a 'training institute' running without any recognition, over 200 students are left in the lurch after having paid the Rs 1 lakh fees
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Students who dreamt of high-flying engineering careers have been let down by a city institute.
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TALL CLAIMS: The website of the Siddhartha Institute of Aeronautical Engineering & Information Technology that claims the institute offers engineering courses (see circled matter) |
The students, who allege that the management of the institute tricked them, say the management is now refusing to return the over Rs 1 lakh paid in fees in six months by each student. They say even the originals of their testimonials are not being returned. "We are in complete shock," said Mahendar R (name changed on request), a student who scored 94 per cent in intermediate. "We have enrolled for a BE, BTech. But we have now realised that this college is not an engineering college at all."
The college, which is said to be in existence since 2006, enrolled over 200 students to aeronautical and mechanical engineering courses last year.
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Two of the affected students (faces blurred on request) |
"We are in complete confusion," said B Sathish (name changed on request), another student of aeronautical engineering, who has scored 97 percent in his intermediate. "The college management has kept us in the dark.
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They have falsely portrayed the training institute as an engineering college, ruining our lives."
The management started the training institute with recognition from the Department of Technical Education in 2006. An engineering college can not be opened without the approval of AICTE (All India Council for Technical Education) and an affiliation from a recognised university.
The students were misled by advertisements and the institute's website, which claims the institute offers engineering courses like aeronautical engineering, architectural engineering, civil engineering, mechanical engineering, computer science and engineering, electronics and communication engineering and information technology, allege students.
"The management claims to give us certification equivalent to a BE degree. But we doubt if it's really equivalent, as we don't have either a lab or practical classes as in a regular BE course. We will end up in trouble," said Sathish.
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S Manohar, the founder of the institute |
Experts say institutes which claim to offer engineering courses without an approval of AICTE or an affiliation from recognised university are fake.u00a0 "Such colleges are mostly fake engineering colleges," said L Vasudeva Murthy, former academic council member, Bangalore University. "No engineering college can either claim or offer engineering courses unless they are approved by AICTE and have an affiliation of recognised university like VTU (Visvesvaraya Technological University). One can't run an engineering college with just an approval by the department of technical education."
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COLLEGE AND the man BEHIND IT: The Siddhartha Institute of Aeronautical Engineering & Information Technology (above) does not have AICTE approval |
The training institute has not even renewed its recognition from the Department of Technical Education since 2007.
"Besides over Rs 1 lakh collected from each of us in six months, they have kept with them all our original testimonials that include class X, intermediate and transfer certificates. This has made us helpless, as we, even after a loss of one year and being cheated, can't join any other colleges. Hence we have decided to lodge a complaint if the management won't agree to return us the fee we have paid and our original testimonials," said a student.
| The Other Side |
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The management of Siddhartha Institute of Aeronautical Engineering & Information Technology denies the charges of misleading aspiring aeronautical engineers. "We are a training institute and not an engineering college," said Kemparaju, principal of the institute. "We train students for exams conducted by Aeronautical Society of India. As certificates awarded after qualifying the exam is equivalent to an engineering degree, we claim to provide engineering degree. |
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