The Telangana government is actively considering the proposal to split the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University Hyderabad (JNTU) but is yet to work out the various details of the split.
The JNTU is currently overloaded as around 225 engineering colleges from across the state are affiliated to it. A majority of these colleges are situated in Hyderabad.
The university had earlier tried to cut down on colleges after it denied affiliation to 25 colleges in June this year, citing poor infrastructure and inadequate faculty.
A legal battle ensued and the High Court in the last week of September, made it clear that it would not allow ill-equipped private engineering colleges to function, and ordered the formation of a two-member monitoring committee for verifying the infrastructural facilities of the colleges.
According to a Deccan Chronicle report, besides considering an upgrade to the JNTU constituent college at Jagityal, a proposal to simply split the varsity into JNTU East and JNTU West is also being considered.
TRS Karimnagar MP B. Vinod Kumar who proposed the upgrade of the college at Jagtiyal in his district told the newspaper that "There is a very good campus in Jagityal with all infrastructure. About 30 to 40 per cent of buildings on the campus are unused. The CM should upgrade it because he wants quality engineering education.”
Many private engineering colleges are also supporting the move as the Jagtiyal University could then cater to colleges in northern Telangana while JNTU would continue managing colleges in Hyderabad and Rangareddy district.
However, a final decision is yet to be taken by chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao.