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Dr. SS Mantha was a professor of Robotics and an alumnus of VJTI, Mumbai where he taught for over two decades. After taking over the AICTE, he brought in e-governance in a big way within it. â¨In a freewheeling conversation with Maheshwer Peri of Careers360, he discusses policy, distance education, B.Tech, and punitive powers of AICTE.
Q.You are an academician and now you are working as an administrator. If given a choice, what role would you prefer?
A. For more than 20 years, I have taught industrial automation and control theory. I have also been a part of a lot of industrial projects, including the ones with Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO). It was fun teaching and also learning while teaching students. As a nation we are large and diverse, so the aspirations and expectations are very different. To meet these expectations as an administrator and a teacher, is a challenge in itself. But if you are committed and logical, you can succeed.
Q. The state of academic research in our country is dismal. Do you agree?
A. Well, I believe that in the top 500 institutions of our country, teaching is at par with other countries. But I believe a lot needs to be done in the research arena. What we need to do here is to identify the top 100 institutions besides the IITs and NITs and synergise variuos departments with respective industrial sectors. It works as a win-win situation for both the institutes and industries. We are working on setting up incubation centres in at least top 100 institutions, approved by the AICTE. This would let teachers and students carry out research work within the institutes’ premises, without moving out. So, we are trying to bring in innovations to encourage research.
Q. What do you think about privatisation of institutions? Do you think profit-motive educational system would work in India?
A. As a matter of policy, education has never been meant for profit and we don’t subscribe to that at all. But if there is surplus money involved, we believe it should go back into development of the institute so that the stakeholders (students, parents, society, industries, etc) get back their proper returns. Having said that, profit motive can never be a yardstick for running an institution.
Q. Recently the University of North Virginia visa fraud case took place, followed by the Tri-Valley University episode. Numerous ‘Tri- Valleys’ are there in India. What can we do to prevent similar situations?
A. There has to be a much more practical regulatory mechanism, wherever such incidences happen. By regulations, I must clarify that it would not mean that best institutions will get throttled and there will not be any roadblocks in their efficient working. An effective profiling of institutions and their activities would have checked the frauds of University of North Virginia and Tri-Valley. We already do carry out profiling of institutions in India, but that needs to be done even more meticulously.
Q. What steps are taken if the institution does not come under the ambit of AICTE?
A. If the institutions are not under AICTE, then their license to function in a particular area is guided by respective local governments. The Regulator can only perform certain duties in such cases and as it is, education is a part of the Concurrent List of the Constitution. The AICTE and other regulators set the standards and the rules but the efficient control process requires the participation of the State governments. AICTE can’t just raid an institution and file an FIR. The institutions are running under certain mandates of the State governments. The State governments need to take up responsibility of dealing with institutions flouting norms.
Q. AICTE permitted 1-year, 15-month modules in the past. But now you have clamped down. Why?
A. I need to clarify that wherever such modules were running, we have allowed them to run. However, the new mandate will be a 2-year programme for maintaining certain quality and standard. There are autonomous institutions coming in for permission to carry out 1-year or even 9-month programmes. In a system, where one is responsible to a large number of students, a certain amount of standardisation and rationalisation is essential. But yes, if certain institutions are exceptionally good and are matured to handle such programmes, we can consider them. Though, these would only be special cases and never ever become the norm.
Q. Around 60,000 B-School seats and 100,000 engineering seats are going vacant. What is AICTE doing about that?
A. Vacant seats are not really present across board or across all disciplines. Our statistics say about 10-12% of our seats are lying vacant. Most of the seats go vacant in institutions situated in rural areas and in fields such as production, instrumentation, etc. With a growing perception that IT sector may not be as job-intensive as it was few years back, a few seats are found vacant in this discipline as well.
Civil, Mechanical and Electrical engineering are usually filled to the brim across institutions. So if I give you a situation where all vacant seats are converted to these three branches of engineering, there would be no seat left vacant. But then this would lead to skewed growth of technology education. This would not help our case. Thus, the vacant seats are subject to demand of particular engineering discipline at a certain time and since the demand changes, so do the vacant seats.
Q. It has often been pointed out that AICTE-regulated institutions work with inexperienced faculty. What is your take on this issue?
A. The quality of faculty in institutes is a matter of huge concern across the world. I believe that the quality benchmark operates across three levels; people who are absolutely good and they constitute the first level, then we have mid-level which has the potential to reach the higher level and lastly, the poor quality. This kind of grading is found across sectors in the academic universe and is not specific to technical education. Now we can aspire towards having the best of faculty, which is 80 percent directly related to hard work and any incremental increase after that would require immense efforts, money and commitment.
So we need our State and central government to implement policies to attract good faculty by better pay scales. Even though the Sixth Pay Commission has led to improvement in salaries, they remain lower than what is offered by the corporate world. An IT engineer or Mechanical engineer in an industrial sphere would be paid almost twice a lecturer. This disparity has to be worked out. It would automatically draw in best of potentates in faculty of engineering colleges and would help improve their quality.
Q. Why is the mandatory disclosure that AICTE needs to impose on people not coming across at all?
A. This probably was the fact a few years back. But with e-governance almost all the information is available under public domain. For example, on the AICTE website under Bureaux section, we have a link saying institutions under public domain. Everybody can access information of about some 10,000 institutions by selecting a proper query based on a State or a particular programme. We can get an idea about the alumni, faculty members along with qualification and even get to see their registration documents, affidavits and land documents.
As far as existing institutions are concerned, they upload the documents on the site and sign an affidavit that if any document is found forged, a criminal action can be initiated. We emphasise on self-disclosure. As far as new institutions are concerned we need to visit them and verify documents. Inspection takes place under the surveillance of a local vigilance committee headed by a retired High Court judges. In fact, we also have a database of outsiders like professors of IITs, NITs and government institutions who carry out these inspections. Even the accreditation process is carried out through a two-tier process. As all these mechanisms reveal, we are definitely implementing mandatory disclosure in a big way.
Q. What is your take on celebrity endorsements of educational institutions?
A. I do not have any problem with celebrities who are connected to education sector in one way or the other. They can act as role models and inspire students. But if they have no connection with education sector, I don’t see any point in their endorsements.
Q. What is your opinion about the Joint committee of UGC-AICTE-DEC that looks into distance education programmes?
A. As a matter of policy, AICTE does not allow technical education to be provided through distance education. We do not have the systems or the content required by learning centres to carry out distance education. Secondly there are 1.5 million engineering seats and actually 10-12% of them are lying vacant. In such a situation, a student has ample choices for pursuing regular engineering.
A student may not take up engineering, if he does not get a stream of choice in a certain college. But this must not mean he takes up a distance learning option instead. Probably he might choose a different college or course in such cases. So in such a situation, who would actually subscribe to engineering through distance learning? If we talk of the working population, they can always enrol in the second shift which is operative across institutions. We have allowed for such options even at undergraduate levels in engineering institutes and even in B-schools. This is any day better than distance education.
Q. Institutes do at times cheat students. What are the punitive measures under AICTE?
A. There are numerous safety measures. The Chapter 5 of Approval Handbook talks of punitive measures and deals with violation of AICTE norms. We carried out 700 surprise inspections throughout the last year and around 576 institutions were given show-cause notices. We have put a tab on intake in certain institutions, shut down several institutions and have withdrawn approval in some cases.
Q. Considering that you and your team is one of the best put together by HRD Ministry in the last couple of years, do you get frustrated by roadblocks that come your way?
A.Dealing with a nation of such magnitude and diversity, the system does throw up difficulties. We are politically-sensitive as a nation and this often leads to certain roadblocks in processes. However, if one remains committed and caters to the larger interest, he or she can manage to overcome these issues. We are also looking towards working in greater tandem with the industries and stakeholders to address larger sections of population.
The field of biomedical engineering opens up a universe of expert chances. An Individual in the biomedical engineering career path work in the field of engineering as well as medicine, in order to find out solutions to common problems of the two fields. The biomedical engineering job opportunities are to collaborate with doctors and researchers to develop medical systems, equipment, or devices that can solve clinical problems. Here we will be discussing jobs after biomedical engineering, how to get a job in biomedical engineering, biomedical engineering scope, and salary.
Database professionals use software to store and organise data such as financial information, and customer shipping records. Individuals who opt for a career as data administrators ensure that data is available for users and secured from unauthorised sales. DB administrators may work in various types of industries. It may involve computer systems design, service firms, insurance companies, banks and hospitals.
A career as ethical hacker involves various challenges and provides lucrative opportunities in the digital era where every giant business and startup owns its cyberspace on the world wide web. Individuals in the ethical hacker career path try to find the vulnerabilities in the cyber system to get its authority. If he or she succeeds in it then he or she gets its illegal authority. Individuals in the ethical hacker career path then steal information or delete the file that could affect the business, functioning, or services of the organization.
The invention of the database has given fresh breath to the people involved in the data analytics career path. Analysis refers to splitting up a whole into its individual components for individual analysis. Data analysis is a method through which raw data are processed and transformed into information that would be beneficial for user strategic thinking.
Data are collected and examined to respond to questions, evaluate hypotheses or contradict theories. It is a tool for analyzing, transforming, modeling, and arranging data with useful knowledge, to assist in decision-making and methods, encompassing various strategies, and is used in different fields of business, research, and social science.
Individuals who opt for a career as geothermal engineers are the professionals involved in the processing of geothermal energy. The responsibilities of geothermal engineers may vary depending on the workplace location. Those who work in fields design facilities to process and distribute geothermal energy. They oversee the functioning of machinery used in the field.
Individuals who opt for a career as a remote sensing technician possess unique personalities. Remote sensing analysts seem to be rational human beings, they are strong, independent, persistent, sincere, realistic and resourceful. Some of them are analytical as well, which means they are intelligent, introspective and inquisitive.
Remote sensing scientists use remote sensing technology to support scientists in fields such as community planning, flight planning or the management of natural resources. Analysing data collected from aircraft, satellites or ground-based platforms using statistical analysis software, image analysis software or Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is a significant part of their work. Do you want to learn how to become remote sensing technician? There's no need to be concerned; we've devised a simple remote sensing technician career path for you. Scroll through the pages and read.
The role of geotechnical engineer starts with reviewing the projects needed to define the required material properties. The work responsibilities are followed by a site investigation of rock, soil, fault distribution and bedrock properties on and below an area of interest. The investigation is aimed to improve the ground engineering design and determine their engineering properties that include how they will interact with, on or in a proposed construction.
The role of geotechnical engineer in mining includes designing and determining the type of foundations, earthworks, and or pavement subgrades required for the intended man-made structures to be made. Geotechnical engineering jobs are involved in earthen and concrete dam construction projects, working under a range of normal and extreme loading conditions.
How fascinating it is to represent the whole world on just a piece of paper or a sphere. With the help of maps, we are able to represent the real world on a much smaller scale. Individuals who opt for a career as a cartographer are those who make maps. But, cartography is not just limited to maps, it is about a mixture of art, science, and technology. As a cartographer, not only you will create maps but use various geodetic surveys and remote sensing systems to measure, analyse, and create different maps for political, cultural or educational purposes.
Budget analysis, in a nutshell, entails thoroughly analyzing the details of a financial budget. The budget analysis aims to better understand and manage revenue. Budget analysts assist in the achievement of financial targets, the preservation of profitability, and the pursuit of long-term growth for a business. Budget analysts generally have a bachelor's degree in accounting, finance, economics, or a closely related field. Knowledge of Financial Management is of prime importance in this career.
The invention of the database has given fresh breath to the people involved in the data analytics career path. Analysis refers to splitting up a whole into its individual components for individual analysis. Data analysis is a method through which raw data are processed and transformed into information that would be beneficial for user strategic thinking.
Data are collected and examined to respond to questions, evaluate hypotheses or contradict theories. It is a tool for analyzing, transforming, modeling, and arranging data with useful knowledge, to assist in decision-making and methods, encompassing various strategies, and is used in different fields of business, research, and social science.
A Product Manager is a professional responsible for product planning and marketing. He or she manages the product throughout the Product Life Cycle, gathering and prioritising the product. A product manager job description includes defining the product vision and working closely with team members of other departments to deliver winning products.
An underwriter is a person who assesses and evaluates the risk of insurance in his or her field like mortgage, loan, health policy, investment, and so on and so forth. The underwriter career path does involve risks as analysing the risks means finding out if there is a way for the insurance underwriter jobs to recover the money from its clients. If the risk turns out to be too much for the company then in the future it is an underwriter who will be held accountable for it. Therefore, one must carry out his or her job with a lot of attention and diligence.
Individuals in the operations manager jobs are responsible for ensuring the efficiency of each department to acquire its optimal goal. They plan the use of resources and distribution of materials. The operations manager's job description includes managing budgets, negotiating contracts, and performing administrative tasks.
An investment director is a person who helps corporations and individuals manage their finances. They can help them develop a strategy to achieve their goals, including paying off debts and investing in the future. In addition, he or she can help individuals make informed decisions.
Welding Engineer Job Description: A Welding Engineer work involves managing welding projects and supervising welding teams. He or she is responsible for reviewing welding procedures, processes and documentation. A career as Welding Engineer involves conducting failure analyses and causes on welding issues.
A career as Transportation Planner requires technical application of science and technology in engineering, particularly the concepts, equipment and technologies involved in the production of products and services. In fields like land use, infrastructure review, ecological standards and street design, he or she considers issues of health, environment and performance. A Transportation Planner assigns resources for implementing and designing programmes. He or she is responsible for assessing needs, preparing plans and forecasts and compliance with regulations.
An expert in plumbing is aware of building regulations and safety standards and works to make sure these standards are upheld. Testing pipes for leakage using air pressure and other gauges, and also the ability to construct new pipe systems by cutting, fitting, measuring and threading pipes are some of the other more involved aspects of plumbing. Individuals in the plumber career path are self-employed or work for a small business employing less than ten people, though some might find working for larger entities or the government more desirable.
Individuals who opt for a career as construction managers have a senior-level management role offered in construction firms. Responsibilities in the construction management career path are assigning tasks to workers, inspecting their work, and coordinating with other professionals including architects, subcontractors, and building services engineers.
Urban Planning careers revolve around the idea of developing a plan to use the land optimally, without affecting the environment. Urban planning jobs are offered to those candidates who are skilled in making the right use of land to distribute the growing population, to create various communities.
Urban planning careers come with the opportunity to make changes to the existing cities and towns. They identify various community needs and make short and long-term plans accordingly.
Highway Engineer Job Description: A Highway Engineer is a civil engineer who specialises in planning and building thousands of miles of roads that support connectivity and allow transportation across the country. He or she ensures that traffic management schemes are effectively planned concerning economic sustainability and successful implementation.
Individuals who opt for a career as an environmental engineer are construction professionals who utilise the skills and knowledge of biology, soil science, chemistry and the concept of engineering to design and develop projects that serve as solutions to various environmental problems.
A Naval Architect is a professional who designs, produces and repairs safe and sea-worthy surfaces or underwater structures. A Naval Architect stays involved in creating and designing ships, ferries, submarines and yachts with implementation of various principles such as gravity, ideal hull form, buoyancy and stability.
Orthotists and Prosthetists are professionals who provide aid to patients with disabilities. They fix them to artificial limbs (prosthetics) and help them to regain stability. There are times when people lose their limbs in an accident. In some other occasions, they are born without a limb or orthopaedic impairment. Orthotists and prosthetists play a crucial role in their lives with fixing them to assistive devices and provide mobility.
A career in pathology in India is filled with several responsibilities as it is a medical branch and affects human lives. The demand for pathologists has been increasing over the past few years as people are getting more aware of different diseases. Not only that, but an increase in population and lifestyle changes have also contributed to the increase in a pathologist’s demand. The pathology careers provide an extremely huge number of opportunities and if you want to be a part of the medical field you can consider being a pathologist. If you want to know more about a career in pathology in India then continue reading this article.
Gynaecology can be defined as the study of the female body. The job outlook for gynaecology is excellent since there is evergreen demand for one because of their responsibility of dealing with not only women’s health but also fertility and pregnancy issues. Although most women prefer to have a women obstetrician gynaecologist as their doctor, men also explore a career as a gynaecologist and there are ample amounts of male doctors in the field who are gynaecologists and aid women during delivery and childbirth.
An oncologist is a specialised doctor responsible for providing medical care to patients diagnosed with cancer. He or she uses several therapies to control the cancer and its effect on the human body such as chemotherapy, immunotherapy, radiation therapy and biopsy. An oncologist designs a treatment plan based on a pathology report after diagnosing the type of cancer and where it is spreading inside the body.
The audiologist career involves audiology professionals who are responsible to treat hearing loss and proactively preventing the relevant damage. Individuals who opt for a career as an audiologist use various testing strategies with the aim to determine if someone has a normal sensitivity to sounds or not. After the identification of hearing loss, a hearing doctor is required to determine which sections of the hearing are affected, to what extent they are affected, and where the wound causing the hearing loss is found. As soon as the hearing loss is identified, the patients are provided with recommendations for interventions and rehabilitation such as hearing aids, cochlear implants, and appropriate medical referrals. While audiology is a branch of science that studies and researches hearing, balance, and related disorders.
The hospital Administrator is in charge of organising and supervising the daily operations of medical services and facilities. This organising includes managing of organisation’s staff and its members in service, budgets, service reports, departmental reporting and taking reminders of patient care and services.
For an individual who opts for a career as an actor, the primary responsibility is to completely speak to the character he or she is playing and to persuade the crowd that the character is genuine by connecting with them and bringing them into the story. This applies to significant roles and littler parts, as all roles join to make an effective creation. Here in this article, we will discuss how to become an actor in India, actor exams, actor salary in India, and actor jobs.
Individuals who opt for a career as acrobats create and direct original routines for themselves, in addition to developing interpretations of existing routines. The work of circus acrobats can be seen in a variety of performance settings, including circus, reality shows, sports events like the Olympics, movies and commercials. Individuals who opt for a career as acrobats must be prepared to face rejections and intermittent periods of work. The creativity of acrobats may extend to other aspects of the performance. For example, acrobats in the circus may work with gym trainers, celebrities or collaborate with other professionals to enhance such performance elements as costume and or maybe at the teaching end of the career.
Career as a video game designer is filled with excitement as well as responsibilities. A video game designer is someone who is involved in the process of creating a game from day one. He or she is responsible for fulfilling duties like designing the character of the game, the several levels involved, plot, art and similar other elements. Individuals who opt for a career as a video game designer may also write the codes for the game using different programming languages.
Depending on the video game designer job description and experience they may also have to lead a team and do the early testing of the game in order to suggest changes and find loopholes.
Radio Jockey is an exciting, promising career and a great challenge for music lovers. If you are really interested in a career as radio jockey, then it is very important for an RJ to have an automatic, fun, and friendly personality. If you want to get a job done in this field, a strong command of the language and a good voice are always good things. Apart from this, in order to be a good radio jockey, you will also listen to good radio jockeys so that you can understand their style and later make your own by practicing.
A career as radio jockey has a lot to offer to deserving candidates. If you want to know more about a career as radio jockey, and how to become a radio jockey then continue reading the article.
The word “choreography" actually comes from Greek words that mean “dance writing." Individuals who opt for a career as a choreographer create and direct original dances, in addition to developing interpretations of existing dances. A Choreographer dances and utilises his or her creativity in other aspects of dance performance. For example, he or she may work with the music director to select music or collaborate with other famous choreographers to enhance such performance elements as lighting, costume and set design.
A multimedia specialist is a media professional who creates, audio, videos, graphic image files, computer animations for multimedia applications. He or she is responsible for planning, producing, and maintaining websites and applications.
A career as social media manager involves implementing the company’s or brand’s marketing plan across all social media channels. Social media managers help in building or improving a brand’s or a company’s website traffic, build brand awareness, create and implement marketing and brand strategy. Social media managers are key to important social communication as well.
In a career as a copywriter, one has to consult with the client and understand the brief well. A career as a copywriter has a lot to offer to deserving candidates. Several new mediums of advertising are opening therefore making it a lucrative career choice. Students can pursue various copywriter courses such as Journalism, Advertising, Marketing Management. Here, we have discussed how to become a freelance copywriter, copywriter career path, how to become a copywriter in India, and copywriting career outlook.
Careers in journalism are filled with excitement as well as responsibilities. One cannot afford to miss out on the details. As it is the small details that provide insights into a story. Depending on those insights a journalist goes about writing a news article. A journalism career can be stressful at times but if you are someone who is passionate about it then it is the right choice for you. If you want to know more about the media field and journalist career then continue reading this article.
For publishing books, newspapers, magazines and digital material, editorial and commercial strategies are set by publishers. Individuals in publishing career paths make choices about the markets their businesses will reach and the type of content that their audience will be served. Individuals in book publisher careers collaborate with editorial staff, designers, authors, and freelance contributors who develop and manage the creation of content.
In a career as a vlogger, one generally works for himself or herself. However, once an individual has gained viewership there are several brands and companies that approach them for paid collaboration. It is one of those fields where an individual can earn well while following his or her passion.
Ever since internet costs got reduced the viewership for these types of content has increased on a large scale. Therefore, a career as a vlogger has a lot to offer. If you want to know more about the Vlogger eligibility, roles and responsibilities then continue reading the article.
Individuals in the editor career path is an unsung hero of the news industry who polishes the language of the news stories provided by stringers, reporters, copywriters and content writers and also news agencies. Individuals who opt for a career as an editor make it more persuasive, concise and clear for readers. In this article, we will discuss the details of the editor's career path such as how to become an editor in India, editor salary in India and editor skills and qualities.
Linguistic meaning is related to language or Linguistics which is the study of languages. A career as a linguistic meaning, a profession that is based on the scientific study of language, and it's a very broad field with many specialities. Famous linguists work in academia, researching and teaching different areas of language, such as phonetics (sounds), syntax (word order) and semantics (meaning).
Other researchers focus on specialities like computational linguistics, which seeks to better match human and computer language capacities, or applied linguistics, which is concerned with improving language education. Still, others work as language experts for the government, advertising companies, dictionary publishers and various other private enterprises. Some might work from home as freelance linguists. Philologist, phonologist, and dialectician are some of Linguist synonym. Linguists can study French, German, Italian.
The career of a travel journalist is full of passion, excitement and responsibility. Journalism as a career could be challenging at times, but if you're someone who has been genuinely enthusiastic about all this, then it is the best decision for you. Travel journalism jobs are all about insightful, artfully written, informative narratives designed to cover the travel industry. Travel Journalist is someone who explores, gathers and presents information as a news article.
Welding Engineer Job Description: A Welding Engineer work involves managing welding projects and supervising welding teams. He or she is responsible for reviewing welding procedures, processes and documentation. A career as Welding Engineer involves conducting failure analyses and causes on welding issues.
A quality controller plays a crucial role in an organisation. He or she is responsible for performing quality checks on manufactured products. He or she identifies the defects in a product and rejects the product.
A quality controller records detailed information about products with defects and sends it to the supervisor or plant manager to take necessary actions to improve the production process.
A Product Manager is a professional responsible for product planning and marketing. He or she manages the product throughout the Product Life Cycle, gathering and prioritising the product. A product manager job description includes defining the product vision and working closely with team members of other departments to deliver winning products.
A QA Lead is in charge of the QA Team. The role of QA Lead comes with the responsibility of assessing services and products in order to determine that he or she meets the quality standards. He or she develops, implements and manages test plans.
A metallurgical engineer is a professional who studies and produces materials that bring power to our world. He or she extracts metals from ores and rocks and transforms them into alloys, high-purity metals and other materials used in developing infrastructure, transportation and healthcare equipment.
An Azure Administrator is a professional responsible for implementing, monitoring, and maintaining Azure Solutions. He or she manages cloud infrastructure service instances and various cloud servers as well as sets up public and private cloud systems.
An AWS Solution Architect is someone who specializes in developing and implementing cloud computing systems. He or she has a good understanding of the various aspects of cloud computing and can confidently deploy and manage their systems. He or she troubleshoots the issues and evaluates the risk from the third party.
Careers in computer programming primarily refer to the systematic act of writing code and moreover include wider computer science areas. The word 'programmer' or 'coder' has entered into practice with the growing number of newly self-taught tech enthusiasts. Computer programming careers involve the use of designs created by software developers and engineers and transforming them into commands that can be implemented by computers. These commands result in regular usage of social media sites, word-processing applications and browsers.
A Product Manager is a professional responsible for product planning and marketing. He or she manages the product throughout the Product Life Cycle, gathering and prioritising the product. A product manager job description includes defining the product vision and working closely with team members of other departments to deliver winning products.
Individuals in the information security manager career path involves in overseeing and controlling all aspects of computer security. The IT security manager job description includes planning and carrying out security measures to protect the business data and information from corruption, theft, unauthorised access, and deliberate attack