55 out of 81 colleges opened in past 5 years don’t have buildings in Jaipur
Of the 81 government colleges opened in five years, 73 were new colleges, while eight were bifurcated. The bifurcation process includes opening separate colleges for science, commerce and art streams out of existing colleges.
Poor infrastructure facilities ail higher education sector in the state with no proper buildings for 55 out of the 81 colleges opened in the past five years, according to the official data of the department of college education, Rajasthan. Eight of these colleges do not even have land allocated for building. Most of these 55 colleges function out of few rooms in government schools.
Of the 81 government colleges opened in five years, 73 were new colleges, while eight were bifurcated. The bifurcation process includes opening separate colleges for science, commerce and art streams out of existing colleges.
Admissions to these colleges have taken place and classes are going on but the buildings of 47 colleges are under construction.
Several of colleges opened in the past five years run out of classrooms borrowed from nearby government schools, including the government colleges in Sri Dungargarh and Kolayat, Bikaner district. ”Two rooms have been allocated to us in the nearby school. Since the space is less, the classes are conducted in different batches,” said Mahendra Rajput, a first year student of Government College, Sri Dungargarh.
“We haven’t had any practical classes till now but the exams are starting on January 15. We don’t even know where the exams would be held. They may make some temporary arrangement on the playground,” he added.
Nearly 200 students have been admitted to Government College Sri Dungargarh that has six teachers, said GP Singh who was appointed the officer on duty when the college was opened.
Dr Digvijay Shekhawat, assistant director, college education (Bikaner Zone), said: “Fifteen bighas of land was allotted for the college in Sri Dungargarh but the funds for construction of the building have not been received. We received ₹1.5 lakh for furniture and we will procure furniture worth ₹10 lakh soon. Several faculties have joined the college recently. The classes are running smoothly,” said Shekhawat.
Space for several bifurcated colleges is also uncertain. While three new colleges were opened in Kota division, two of the existing colleges were bifurcated. New government colleges were opened in Antah, Itawa and Kanwas which are still running out of nearby government schools.
“The arts college bifurcated out of JDB Girls’ College, Kota, is yet to get clearance from the public works department (PWD) as several trees have to be cut down and demolitions have to be carried out for the same.
Land for the commerce college which is bifurcated out of the same college was allocated near the highway, where several 100-year-old trees have to be cut for the same. Moreover, a building that dates back to the British era exists on the land. Hence, construction of a college building there may be difficult,” said Dr. Dinesh Tiwari, assistant director, college education, (Kota Zone).
Reacting to the present condition of the colleges opened under the BJP regime, party spokesperson Mukesh Pareek said: “The BJP government opened new colleges heeding public demand. At some places the colleges are running out of different buildings but in most of the places, the colleges have enough space. For example, Poddar school in Jaipur had huge space and a college was opened in the same campus. The BJP government did better work in the education sector in five years than the previous Congress regime.”
Satyendra Singh Raghav, spokesperson of the Congress, said: “The BJP government kept making new announcements and schemes but did not work on the ground. They did not check the condition of the schools and colleges or the schemes on ground.”
