Continuing with my search for the best polytechnic in India. I have found another strong contender. This time it is Vidhya Bhawan Polytechnic College in Udaipur. It was set up in 1956 and was awarded the best polytechnic by the Technical Teachers’ Training Institute, Chandigarh for 2002-2003. The NITTE is a government body for technical education and the award is special. The institute offers courses in Civil Engineering ,Electronics Engineering,Electrical Engineering ,Computer Science and Information Technology, Physics, Mathematics, Mechanical Engineering,Chemistry and English. Each class has around 30 to 40 students and admission is only made after counseling by Board of Technical Education in Jodhpur, Rajasthan. A placement cell exist which facilitates the job search process of candidates. There is also an active NSS camp on campus. Do you know of any other polytechnic that can better the record or the facilities offered by Vidhya Bhawan? Please let us know.

I wanted to find out about the best polytechnic institute in India. I also wanted to initiate a discussion on this matter. Keeping these things in mind I set about searching. One of the names that kept cropping up is the Government Polytechnic at Karnal in the state of Haryana. The institute offers diplomas in Civil, Mechanical and Electrical Engineering and has been existence in its present form since partition . The diplomas have started since 1975.There are post-diploma courses too. Two courses are offered in Computer Applications and microprocessor technology. The polytechnic has modern equipment for teaching . There is also a Learning Resources Utilization center set up with aid from World Bank. With a well stocked library and frequent industry interaction, this polytechnic has served the nation well. It is a very strong contender for the best polytechnic award. Do you have any other polytechnic in mind? Lets find out the best at indiaedu.

In India, polytechnic institutes have not been able to graduate to the standards of excellence that are common in universities. The mandate for Indian polytechnics are more to “fit the bill” in equipping people who are not able to attend conventional university education, for the workplace. However there are notable examples all over the world which show the amount of promise that can be fulfilled by backing a polytechnic to the maximum. To my mind, the most notable of them all would be the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Set up by 1824 as a pioneer of science education it was thought that naming it as a Polytechnic Institute would broaden and not restrict its scope. True to that promise, its graduates have made themselves legends in the their respective legends. Today RPI is synonymous with the best in engineering and science research and people finding employment or studentship in this Institute consider themselves lucky. I wish we could replicate this kind of success in our country.

Polytechnic Colleges are specialized institutions. They cater to group of students who cannot attend a conventional course in the colleges of higher education and yet need to upgrade their skills to better equip themselves for the market place. The colleges have been set up throughout the country with government assistance and typically charge very low fees. In West Bengal there is a concentration of polytechnics near the Kolkata region. Some of the institutes exclusively for women like the Women’s Polytechnic on Gariahat Road at Jodhpur Park. Some of the popular courses are—

1. Computer Science and Technology

2. Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering

3. Architectural Assistantship

All courses on all the polytechnics have to be approved by AICTE before they can take students. The number of seats vary and can range anywhere between 15 to 60. However this depends on the institutes and their ability to accommodate.The Ramkrishna Mission also runs a polytechnic from its ashram campus at Belur. There is a high concentration of polytechnics in the Howrah and Hooghly district on the outskirts of the the Kolkata region.

What exactly is a Polytechnic College?