College of Engineering to get ‘elite state institute’ status

The College of Engineering, Pune (CoEP) is all set to get the status of 'elite state institute' in recognition of its academic excellence. A formal announcement was made by the state Higher and Technical Education Minister Rajesh Tope at an inaugural function of the girls' hostel building and academic complex of the college on Thursday.

"The status of 'elite state institute' will put CoEP at par with other eminent national educational institutes such as IITs and IISc. It will also open up more avenues for the college to draw grants from the state and the Centre," he said.

In April last year, the state government had initiated a drive to identify reputed institutes and confer upon them the 'elite' status in recognition of their academic excellence and activities carried out in the field of research and development among other achievements. The Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT), Matunga, was the first institute to get 'elite' tag last year.

All praise for CoEP, Tope said more than century-old institute has done a 'commendable job' since it was granted autonomy in 2003, and has emerged as a role model of academic governance.

The minister, who took stock of the issues faced by the college administration and was scheduled to hold a meeting with the CoEP Board of Governors (BoG), pledged all possible support to ensure swift growth of the institute.

Tope committed to give BoG the freedom to appoint new college faculties rather than waiting for the clearance from Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) and assured to free CoEP's portion of land from encroachers.

He said funds worth Rs 26 crore were given by the state government to construct girls' hostel and raise other facilities at the college. More money would be pumped in to ensure accommodation for around 4,000 students studying in the college, he added.

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