The chairs of polytechnic colleges built at the cost of crores of rupees in Nagaland are gathering dust. There are nine government polytechnics in the state that offer different types of diploma courses. But one of the institutes has not had any admission for three consecutive years. Government Polytechnic Peren (GPP) offers short term certificate and diploma programs in interior design. It was started in 2021 and enrollment was opened for students. However, till date no student has come here.

In this regard, the officials say that everything including faculty and staff is there and the college is ready to run but there is a shortage of students. When Hindustan Times visited the institute, it was found that this college has four blocks which include a boys hostel, academic block, principal quarters and two staff quarters.

What is the reason for students not coming?
On investigation, it was found that there is no hostel for girls here. Apart from this, the condition of the road from the nearby Jaluki town to GPP is so bad that on rainy days, the employees coming to the institute have to leave their vehicles in Jaluki and walk for about 35 minutes. An informed source, on the condition of anonymity, said that there is no drinking water facility in the campus except a ring well. The water there also has high iron content and is not potable. Electricity was connected only a few months ago, three years after the establishment of the polytechnic college. There is no broadband service in the campus and the mobile internet reception is very poor.

There are around 15 staff members working at GPP, including the principal and faculty. In the absence of students, the staff attends the institute in small groups on rotation basis. This year, three students were selected for admission to the three-year diploma programme in interior designing through the Diploma Entrance Examination (DEE) conducted by the state technical education department. Of the three, only one student appeared for admission but later changed his mind and did not take the seat. Sources said no proper survey of the course was conducted before setting up the polytechnic college.

More than Rs 12 crore was allocated per college
GPP was established under the Polytechnic Mission under the Skill Development Scheme. Under this, financial assistance was given by the Centre to the state governments to set up polytechnic colleges. Under this scheme, new polytechnics are to be set up in those districts which do not have any government/government aided polytechnic. Under the scheme, states were given Rs 12.3 crore for one polytechnic college.