Pune: For years, large and open lands on the premises of govt engineering, polytechnic and technical institutes have been easy targets for other govt departments to build public utilities such as water tanks and electric substations. They were even allowed to be rented to private agencies for use as sports grounds or organising weddings.Not anymore, says a government resolution (GR) issued on Tuesday by the higher and technical education dept. The dept has formulated a policy stating that these lands cannot be used for purposes unrelated to technical education as the land needs to be preserved for future expansions, accreditation etc.Pramod Naik, in charge director of the directorate of technical education, Maharashtra said, “We keep getting proposals from various govt departments for opening an office or other types of structures on these lands. Sometimes, the demand is from local bodies for road construction. Due to all these activities, the atmosphere of the college is unnecessarily disturbed. Hence, this policy was framed keeping in mind the sanctity of educational institutes and their future needs. Large open spaces, green belts on these campuses are essential for a good educational environment.”The Directorate of Technical Education (DTE) has under its administrative control 41 govt polytechnics, two institutes of hotel management and catering technology, 10 govt engineering colleges, 4 institutes of pharmacy, and 6 regional offices. Most institutes are old with large campuses situated in the district headquarters.The GR lists several reasons for taking the decision. Colleges may need more land to start new courses; regulatory and accreditation bodies like AICTE, NBA and NAAC have minimum land and infrastructure requirements and losing the space may affect their rankings.More facilities may be needed in the future if the enrolment increases. With NEP focusing on industry collaboration, more space may be needed to build centres of excellence, incubation and training centres. In the long term, if there is a proposal to form a cluster university or something similar, more space would be required.Losing Space May Hit RankingsDirectorate of Technical Education has under its administrative control 41 govt polytechnics, two institutes of hotel management and catering technology, 10 govt engineering colleges, 4 institutes of pharmacy, and 6 regional officesMost institutes are old with large campuses situated in the district headquarters; GR lists several reasons for the decision
