GUWAHATI, Dec 22 � The State Government has sent back the detailed project report (DPR) of a master plan, prepared by the Noida-based consultancy firm Ed CIL for developing centurion Cotton College into an institution of international standard, for modification.
Official sources here said that the decision to send back the DPR was taken at a high-level meeting convened by the Additional Chief Secretary, Higher Education.
It needs mention here that the committee constituted by the State Government to study the DPR also suggested some modifications in the document. The main objection raised in this respect is the exorbitant fee structures and some course-related matters proposed by the consultancy firm.
The DPR dealt with different courses sought to be introduced in the college, its fee structures, intake capacity against different courses and the number of faculty members to be recruited in the next 10 years, among others.
The committee, constituted by the State Government to study the DPR is headed by the Director, Higher Education (DHE), with the Principal of the college as the member secretary, had, however, accepted some of the provisions of the DPR, while calling for modifications to some others, sources said.
It is pertinent to mention here that Education Minister Gautam Bora, Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and DHE Dilwar Hussain along with the PWD officials visited the college on August 15 last year for an on-the-spot study of the college infrastructure.
They then decided that there should not be any renovation of the existing buildings of the college and construction of any new building on its campus for the time being. During the visit of the team, it was also decided to prepare the DPR of a master plan for the development of the academic as well as physical infrastructure of the college for upgrading it into an institution of international standard.
Accordingly, the Ed CIL was engaged and a team of the consultancy firm visited the college on May 7, 2010 and subsequently the draft and final DPR were prepared by the consultancy firm.
Meanwhile, a team of the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) of the University Grants Commission (UGC) visited the college examining its performance in every area for the past three days since December 20. Cotton College expects to retain its previous status. It was awarded A-grade status by the NAAC in 2004.
