Hans News Service Hyderabad

Followingrecent political brawl over bringing all government Polytechnic Colleges under the purview of Young India Skills University (YISU), the state government clarified that all assets of Polytechnic institutions remain under the control of the government.

“Even if Polytechnic Colleges come under the purview of YISU, the lands, buildings, laboratories, and other infrastructure belonging to these colleges will remain entirely under the control of the government's SHAKTI Department.

Lecturers and other staff working in polytechnic colleges will get full protection of their service rules, cadre, promotions, and transfers. The staff will continue to be government employees. Polytechnic fees cannot be altered without government approval. Benefits such as scholarships, fee reimbursements, and reservation quotas for underprivileged students will continue as usual.

The government also clarified that that GO 97 to abolish or privatise government polytechnics or alter their academic structure was false. These are merely misconceptions created deliberately.

The government has initiated changes solely to further strengthen the technical education that government polytechnics have been providing for decades. The main goal of these reforms is to establish strong industry linkages and create better skill-development and employment opportunities for students.

Polytechnics are set to be revamped along the lines of Advanced Technical Centers (ATCs) to upgrade skills of the youth in tune with evolving market demands, state SHAKTI minister G Vivek alleged that opposition leaders hatched conspiracies for their own selfish political interests.

They were creating confusion by spreading misconceptions that students and teaching staff would be adversely affected. The new courses will provide students with better employment opportunities and there will be no changes to the service rules for lecturers. Promotions, salaries, and allowances will remain unaffected. They will continue to be government employees and there is no need for insecurity. Students can still join the second year of engineering courses.

The Engineering Common Entrance Test (ECET) will not be scrapped under any circumstances. Student fees will not increase.