Private universities are not pleased with the findings of the nationwide survey conducted by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).
The fact that most of the private universities are in Solan district is not by chance, but by design. It is a policy of the government which has decided to create an educational hub at Kalujhanda in the district, they point out.
Universities like the Baddi University of Emerging Sciences and Technology, Eternal University and some others, which have been upgraded from colleges, have not purchased land from poor farmers like others. As such all the institutions can not be painted by the same brush.
The Baddi University says its Registrar DK Banerji, has emerged from a group of institutes, each having its own campus and approved by the AICTE, which are successfully running under Himachal Pradesh University since 2002. As such, it will be incorrect to say that universities do not have the past experience of imparting higher education.
He says the university faculty includes 11 PhDs and 13 teachers are on the verge of completing the doctorate programme, while 64 postgraduate teachers are having NET and GRE qualifications, and all of them are being paid under the UGC pay scales. The fee structure has been decided by the government and universities are following it.
Teams from the Education Department, the state Regulatory Commission, the UGC, the AICTE and the Pharmacy Council of India regularly visit universities to check the quality of education.
