The management of Chaitanya Bharathi Institute of Technology (CBIT), while stoutly denying any irregularities or underhand dealings in the matter of admissions, charged "vested interests" of launching canards against the institute for not yielding to requests for admitting students recommended by them.
CBIT President V Malakonda Reddy, Secretary D Kamalakar Reddy and other governing body members made this charge at a media conference on Monday in connection with reports about the Telangana government planning to take over the institute and also allegations that non-locals like Union Minister Y S Choudhary were controlling the institution.
It might be mentioned here that there was speculation in the media about the Telangana government contemplating taking over CBIT, and that Irrigation Minister T Harish Rao was working in that direction.
There were also allegations about the management seats in the institution being sold at premium prices, and Rs. 400 crores being embezzled so far in this manner.
It was also charged that CBIT was being run under the dictates of Y S Choudhary.
Refuting all these charges, Dr. Malakonda Reddy and other members of the governing body of CBIT clarified that admissions in the institution, which ranked 33 amongst the 100 best institutions in the country, were done only on the basis of the merit of the applying students.
"Many influential persons have been bringing pressure on us for admissions, but we go only by merit," he declared, and added that some of those who could not get their candidates admitted were indulging in "blackmail" by tarnishing the name of the institution.
Asked about the charge leveled by TRS MP Konda Visveshwar Reddy that standards in the institution were drastically falling, the members of the governing body refuted the same by saying that those allegations were being made because of a grouse against the governing body for removing him from the board on technical grounds.
Asserting that there was no communication from the TRS government about its plans to take over CBIT, Dr. Malakonda Reddy said that the general body meeting of the Chaitanya Bharathi Education Society, under the aegis of which CBIT is being administered, had in fact recently resolved to apply to the TRS government for grant of private university status to CBIT as and when the Private Universities Bill is passed in the Assembly. (NSS)