Kannada organizations are calling upon the State government to establish a constituent engineering college within the campuses of Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) in either Belgaum or Kalaburagi. This plea comes in response to Higher Education Minister M.C. Sudhakar’s recent announcement about the government’s plan to set up an engineering college in Chintamani, his hometown.
During a meeting with the Minister, a delegation from the coordination committee of Kannada organizations presented a memorandum emphasizing the benefits of government colleges, citing lower fees for financially disadvantaged students and the positive academic influence of VTU’s post-graduate professors on undergraduate education.
The delegation also urged the incorporation of a state-of-the-art laboratory and an incubation center to support students in transforming their projects into viable enterprises. They highlighted the potential collaboration between local industries in Belgaum, Hubballi Dharwad, and other North Karnataka districts with teachers to mentor students towards entrepreneurship within the proposed incubation center.
Pointing out the scarcity of government engineering colleges in North Karnataka, the delegation emphasized the longstanding demand for an on-campus engineering college at VTU in Belgaum. They underscored the fact that, despite the substantial acreage of VTU’s Belgaum and Kalaburagi campuses, neither currently houses a government engineering college.
The delegation expressed concern over the allocation of a government engineering college to Chintamani, emphasizing its proximity to VTU’s Muddenahalli campus and the prevalence of engineering colleges in Bengaluru. Retired mathematics professor Tamraparni Venkatesh, present during the discussion, recounted Minister Sudhakar’s initial skepticism about the absence of an engineering college at VTU, ultimately acknowledging the validity of the delegation’s stance.
