Rename 4 UP engineering colleges after Ambedkar, BJP minister writes to CM Yogi Adityanath

In a letter to the CM, Aggrawal also urged him to rename two other engineering colleges in Azamgarh and Ambedkarnagar after the Dalit icon on Ambedkar Jayanti, which falls on April 14.

Notably, the four engineering colleges were established between 2010-2011during the rule of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati. Sources in the technical education department said that the four colleges were established under a ‘special component plan’ launched by the Centre for uplift of weaker sections of the society.

While the two colleges in Banda and Bijnore were called Bhim Rao Ambedkar Engineering College of Information Technology, the ones in Azamgarh and Ambedkarnagar were named after BSP founder Kanshi Ram — Manyavar Kanshi Ram Engineering College of Information and Technology.

However, the names of the four colleges were changed to Rajkiya Engineering College (State Engineering College) in 2015 by the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party government.

“During one of my visits to Bijnore district, I got to know that the engineering college there was initially named after BR Ambedkar but its name was changed during the previous Samajwadi Party government. I feel that these icons should not be associated with any caste and thus I decided to request CM Yogi Adityanath to restore the names of these engineering colleges as a tribute to Ambedkar on his birth anniversary,” Aggrawal told .

An MLA from Muzaffarnagar assembly constituency, Aggrawal was the incharge Minister of Bijnore district during the first BJP government in Uttar Pradesh. While he is the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Vocational Education and Skill Development, engineering colleges come under the purview of the Ministry of Technical Education which has been allocated to Apna Dal (Sonelal) leader and state cabinet minister Ashish Patel.

Aggrawal said that the issue came to his knowledge and he decided to raise it.

These colleges offer 60 seats each in the streams of Information Technology, Civil Engineering and Electrical Engineering.

Meanwhile, sources in the technical education department and the Chief Minister’s Office said that they are yet to receive any instructions about renaming the institutions yet.

During the previous Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party governments, several educational institutions were renamed after the parties’ respective leaders.