RGUHS will geo-tag affiliate colleges to ensure better infra

RGUHS will geo-tag affiliate colleges to ensure better infra

SruthySusan.Ullas@timesgroup.com

Bengaluru:10.02.2021

Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) will roll out geo-tagging of all its affiliate institutions to avoid their uneven spread and ensure quality in infrastructure. The university has brought in a moratorium on starting new colleges, barring medical colleges, in Bengaluru Urban district and Mangaluru.

“Due to high density of colleges in these two places, new ones will not be allowed. This rule was in place for academic year 2020-21 and will continue for 2021-22. This is applicable for all colleges except medical ones. In case a proposal is received, it will first go to the syndicate,” said Shivanand Kapashi, registrar.

The university is bringing in major reforms of the local inquiry committee in renewing affiliation and considering new applications of colleges. “Many institutions run multiple colleges from the same building despite each demanding specific requirements. Such ille gal colle ges can be tracked down with geo-tagging,” said HJ Jaikrishna, syndicate member.

Aadhaar-linked biometric attendance is being introduced to check the issue of “ghost lecturers” who visit multiple colleges during inspections. Apart from informed inspections by LIC, the reforms also suggest surprise checks with photo and video recording, presence of subject experts and special formats for filling in details of the visits.

The university had received applications to start 160 new colleges — 101 for nursing and 60 for allied health t— his year.

Of these, 60 have been recommended to the government for approval by the university. There had been criticism that many of the deficiencies were overlooked during the LIC visits and were then scrutinised at the syndicate level.

“Many earlier applications that were pending because of some deficiencies were added this year, taking the numbers up to 160. We’ve taken extra steps with additional two layers of checking. The syndicate also randomly visited some colleges among the 64 that were recommended by the LIC. Finally, a list of 60 colleges has been sent to the government,” said the registrar.

The move will help in addressing the problem of density of colleges in a single area. Bengaluru, Mangaluru and Hubballi have high number of colleges. We need an even spread to ensure access to all students. Geo-tagging will provide all details about a college in Karnataka that students can use to verify before taking admission

HJ Jaikrishna |

SYNDICATE MEMBER