Atal Bihari Vajpayee Hindi University started engineering courses in Hindi medium last year and received a poor response from the students. During the academic session 2016-17, only four students enrolled for three engineering courses offered by the varsity. On the other hand, a total number of seven students sought admission through lateral entry. This year, surprisingly, not even one registration was received for these Hindi medium engineering courses resulting in the initiative being termed as a flop.
The varsity now has no other option except to shut down these engineering courses. It also does not have enough infrastructure to run these engineering courses. Currently, there are only 11 students in all the three branches of engineering who enrolled last year. The three courses offered by the varsity in engineering offer a total number of 180 seats. The officials of the varsity are in a dilemma whether to run the courses or shut them down.
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Meanwhile, the newly appointed Vice Chancellor of the varsity expressed that the concept of offering engineering courses in Hindi was good. However, lack of awareness among the parents and students is one of the major reasons for zero takers this year. According to him, running engineering courses in Hindi further, can lead to a financial loss to the varsity. Appointing 20 teachers, constructing classrooms and developing infrastructure for just a few students is not feasible. The issue will be taken up during the next Academic Council meeting where it will be decided whether or not to continue the offering in the coming academic sessions.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee Hindi University launched engineering courses in Hindi with a hope that students will enroll in it. The varsity had also written to Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) that it was ready to enroll students who were struggling to pursue engineering courses in English at their institutes.
Running engineering courses in Hindi has been a challenging task for the varsity. The availability of textbooks is rare and it is hard to find faculty members who could teach engineering in Hindi. Currently, the varsity has only four ad-hoc teachers with no permanent faculty.
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On the other hand, the staff of the engineering department of the varsity felt that it would take time for the courses to gain popularity. Therefore, the varsity could wait for a few more years rather than discontinuing immediately. An official associated with the administration department of the varsity had a different stand on this issue. According to him, the varsity should not continue the courses as it does not have good infrastructure and permanent faculty.
Meanwhile, the government of Madhya Pradesh decided not to interfere in the matter and informed the varsity to take its own decision. Since the varsity is an autonomous body, it could take its decisions independently.