Students of Guru-Gram Institute of Aeronautical Engineering and Technology at old Pardi Naka on Bhandara Road have alleged the college duped them under the pretext of offering engineering degrees. Even after many police complaints, no action has been taken till date as the owners of college are believed to have strong political connections.
The aggrieved students also approached additional police commissioner and an MLA but to no avail. The college is not even recognized by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). Technical director of the college Sumit Walia, however, categorically denied all the allegations stating that the college always worked as per norms.
According to several aggrieved students, they paid lakhs of rupees to the college for pursuing engineering courses. They said college management gave them false impression regarding availability of courses and eligibility at the time of admission. "I took admission to the college to pursue a four-year course in aeronautical engineering. They told me I was not eligible for the same as the criteria for it was HSC. They made me undergo a three-year diploma course in electronics and telecommunications for becoming eligible for the aeronautical degree. However, no one taught us and we were misguided," said Harish Paunikar, a student.
He told TOI many students like him were promised that they will be admitted directly in the second year of aeronautical engineering course after the diploma for which they needed to clear three subjects per semester. When the results were out, they were shocked to know that they were declared failed by the Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers (IETE), Delhi. The IETE through a notice informed them that they needed to clear four subjects and not three.
"We were shocked and tried to clarify it with the college. But they went back on their words saying they never gave such information to begin with. Our whole semester was wasted and the college refused to listen to our pleas. When we asked them to cancel our admissions, they refused to refund the fees," another student who didn't wish to be named said.
The students further claimed the college charged them almost double the fee prescribed in the prospectus under the garb of service tax and refused to give them receipts of the extra amount. The prospectus also mentioned state-of-the-art infrastructure and lab equipment but in reality there is nothing.
"There are no proper labs and teachers refused to conduct classes as they were not paid regular salaries. Also, there were almost 13 lecturers mentioned in the staff list in prospectus but in reality there were only six. Most teachers as well as the principal have left the college as they had salary issues with the management," another student Swapnil Suryawanshi charged.
He also claimed that the college demanded more money at the time of examination though it was included in the admission fee. The students further claimed that mechanical engineering course was not available in the college despite being mentioned in the brochure.
College passes buck on students
However, the college management led by Walia refuted all the charges stating that they had all the records of receipts given to students. He also passed the buck on students stating that they left the college on their own and were never forced to do so.
"We never misguided any student and pay regular salaries to teachers. The total strength which is mentioned in the prospectus is a combined one of our branches at Gurgaon, Faridabad and Nagpur. Anybody can come and visit our college to verify the facts," he asserted.
On keeping students in dark about IETE norms i.e. asking them to appear in three subjects instead of four, he said they taught them as per the rules and regulations framed by IETE.
He however accepted that his college was not recognized by AICTE but added that it was given recognition by the Union HRD ministry which controls the apex engineering body and also by IETE, Associate Member of the Institution of Engineers (AMIE) and Association of Indian Universities (AIU).
Walia refused to divulge the details regarding as to how many students have passed from his college but stated that 15-20% students passed out each year. "Ours is a 50-year-old society with three big campuses. Our students are working in renowned multinationals and even in companies like Wipro and Infosys," he clarified.
Another director Ratinder Jallu told TOI that they had latest state-of-the-art facilities for practical training including engine of an aircraft and many of their students were placed at renowned organizations and also took training at Nagpur Flying Club.
"So far 900 students have enrolled with us since 2004 and we've best faculty which included retired IAF officials and from IITs. We had some problem in 2009 when some of our faculty left us. These students belong to that batch, else we never had any such problems," he said.
The aggrieved students also approached additional police commissioner and an MLA but to no avail. The college is not even recognized by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). Technical director of the college Sumit Walia, however, categorically denied all the allegations stating that the college always worked as per norms.
According to several aggrieved students, they paid lakhs of rupees to the college for pursuing engineering courses. They said college management gave them false impression regarding availability of courses and eligibility at the time of admission. "I took admission to the college to pursue a four-year course in aeronautical engineering. They told me I was not eligible for the same as the criteria for it was HSC. They made me undergo a three-year diploma course in electronics and telecommunications for becoming eligible for the aeronautical degree. However, no one taught us and we were misguided," said Harish Paunikar, a student.
He told TOI many students like him were promised that they will be admitted directly in the second year of aeronautical engineering course after the diploma for which they needed to clear three subjects per semester. When the results were out, they were shocked to know that they were declared failed by the Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers (IETE), Delhi. The IETE through a notice informed them that they needed to clear four subjects and not three.
"We were shocked and tried to clarify it with the college. But they went back on their words saying they never gave such information to begin with. Our whole semester was wasted and the college refused to listen to our pleas. When we asked them to cancel our admissions, they refused to refund the fees," another student who didn't wish to be named said.
The students further claimed the college charged them almost double the fee prescribed in the prospectus under the garb of service tax and refused to give them receipts of the extra amount. The prospectus also mentioned state-of-the-art infrastructure and lab equipment but in reality there is nothing.
"There are no proper labs and teachers refused to conduct classes as they were not paid regular salaries. Also, there were almost 13 lecturers mentioned in the staff list in prospectus but in reality there were only six. Most teachers as well as the principal have left the college as they had salary issues with the management," another student Swapnil Suryawanshi charged.
He also claimed that the college demanded more money at the time of examination though it was included in the admission fee. The students further claimed that mechanical engineering course was not available in the college despite being mentioned in the brochure.
College passes buck on students
However, the college management led by Walia refuted all the charges stating that they had all the records of receipts given to students. He also passed the buck on students stating that they left the college on their own and were never forced to do so.
"We never misguided any student and pay regular salaries to teachers. The total strength which is mentioned in the prospectus is a combined one of our branches at Gurgaon, Faridabad and Nagpur. Anybody can come and visit our college to verify the facts," he asserted.
On keeping students in dark about IETE norms i.e. asking them to appear in three subjects instead of four, he said they taught them as per the rules and regulations framed by IETE.
He however accepted that his college was not recognized by AICTE but added that it was given recognition by the Union HRD ministry which controls the apex engineering body and also by IETE, Associate Member of the Institution of Engineers (AMIE) and Association of Indian Universities (AIU).
Walia refused to divulge the details regarding as to how many students have passed from his college but stated that 15-20% students passed out each year. "Ours is a 50-year-old society with three big campuses. Our students are working in renowned multinationals and even in companies like Wipro and Infosys," he clarified.
Another director Ratinder Jallu told TOI that they had latest state-of-the-art facilities for practical training including engine of an aircraft and many of their students were placed at renowned organizations and also took training at Nagpur Flying Club.
"So far 900 students have enrolled with us since 2004 and we've best faculty which included retired IAF officials and from IITs. We had some problem in 2009 when some of our faculty left us. These students belong to that batch, else we never had any such problems," he said.
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