CBI continues surprise checks on engg colleges

Hyderabad, Aug 14 :

  The sleuths of Central Bureau of Investigation (Cbi) on Friday also continued their surprise checks at several engineering colleges in the light of corruption charges against suspended AICTE member.

According to the relevant sources, the inspections are likely to continue on several colleges. The Cbi official arrested the suspended AICTE member Dr Narayana Rao, who hails from the State on July 16 on corruption charges. He was arrested along with ‘middleman’ S B Subba Rao when they were allegedly accepting Rs 5 lakh from the owner of an engineering college in the State.

Later, the Cbi registered a case against them. Some amount of cash and documents were also recovered from Dr Rao and Subba Rao residences in Delhi and Hyderabad.

It is a known fact that several colleges in the State do not conform to the AICTE standards but managed to get clearance certificates ‘bribing’ officials at AICTE. In this regard the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University cancelled recognition of 83 engineering colleges for not maintaining infrastructure facilities.

Students have been complaining about poor infrastructure but the AICTE continued to give permission to new colleges apparently throwing all norms to the winds.

The teams comprising two Cbi officers, a representative of AICTE and a civil engineer, swooped on the colleges and sought records of the land, fixed deposits, infrastructure. The civil engineer personally measured the space meant for classrooms, labs and administrative offices and verified it with the land conversion records of the colleges, according to sources.