Hyderabad: An “inter-state principals’ racket” is thriving in engineering colleges in Telangana. Inspections carried out by the state government has revealed that a significant number of colleges in Hyderabad and surrounding districts had appointed principals working in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra to secure college approvals from AICTE and the state government.

JNTU-Hyderabad, which affiliates almost all the engineering colleges in Telangana, conducted inspection of colleges following Supreme Court orders after 163 colleges moved the court against cancellation of university affiliation last year.

“We have noticed that several colleges appointed principals and faculty from neighbouring states to ensure that they comply to norms during inspections. They are shown on the college rolls only to serve inspection purposes. They don't come to colleges or take classes but draw salaries every month. They work in their own states as regular principals and faculty. This is a big scam in engineering colleges,” said a senior official of JNTU-H who was involved in the inspections.

After inspections are over, the managements appoint local M.Tech graduates as principals at lower salaries. While classes commenced on July 15, 2014, these colleges appointed principals and faculty after several months, up to December, to pass the JNTU inspections.

For instance, a college located in RR district had shown a principal with a PhD in Management on the first day of inspection. After the university refused approval, it appointed another principal with a PhD in Engineering from Karnataka, the next day. Similar neighbouring states principals were found in colleges in Nalgodanda, Mahabubnagar, Karimnagar and Warangal.

It was also found that some colleges submitted fake PhD certificates to justify the appointment of their principals.