New face of terror: Varsities to keep detailed record of students

In the wake of chief minister B S Yeddyurappa's concern that radicals in the state are carrying out nefarious activities in the guise of medical and engineering students, educational institutions and universities are working on various methods to keep a detailed record of students.
Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) is planning to add more information to the present database of foreign students already admitted to its affiliated colleges.RGUHS registrar S Vasantha Kumar told The Times of India that a meeting was held with 36 medical college principals and 54 ayurveda college principals recently, where admission lists were asked to be updated.
The meeting chaired by vice-chancellor S Ramananda Shetty asked the colleges to have complete details of the students, as per university requirements. "Details include photographs too. We have asked the colleges to monitor those staying in hostels," he said.
Davanagere
Measures have been taken at Davanagere too, one of the first places linking terror activity to students, with the district administration convening a meeting of all principals. "The government has the right to monitor and control such anti-national activities. We will support
it in this regard and don't have any objection for keeping a vigil on the professional colleges," Bapuji Institute of Engineering and Technology (BIET) principal B T Achyutha said.
Students also echo this thought. "Increasing terror attacks are alarming and there is nothing wrong with scanning professional colleges," said G Vindhya, a first year engineering student of University BDT College, Davanagere.
VTU
Reports of terrorist outfits recruiting students of professional colleges don't seem to have made any impact on the administration at Visweshwaraiah Technological University (VTU). In-charge VC and registrar K V A Balaji said the police are yet to contact him.
Hubli-Dharwad
Most engineering and medical colleges have been alert from the day reports of an alleged SIMI activist, Asadulla Baig, being nabbed from Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences hostel in Hubli came in. Vasudev Parvati, head of the department of information science technology in SDM College of Engineering and Technology, Dharwad, said his college had been alerted by the district administration. "We profile all the students to know their background," he added. KIMS too has stepped up vigil on campus.
Manipal University
University pro-chancellor H S Ballal said he does not subscribe to the CM's views. "It's an unfortunate development that terrorist activities are found to have links with some institutions," he added. S S Pabla, pro-VC and director of Manipal Institute of Technology, said: "I partially agree with the CM's statement that some higher education institutions have recently become soft targets of terrorism. But institutions can only verify academic background and records of students when they take admission, not other details. The government has to take care of that aspect. We at Manipal University seek police help whenever there is a doubt about such activities amongst our students," he stated.
Mysore
Principal of Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering (SJCE), B G Sangameshwar, said special care is taken before admitting students, especially foreigners. "We get foreign students' eligibility confirmed from VTU and their credentials verified from the police. This apart, as the anti-ragging squad of the college keeps a constant watch on every student, especially those residing in the hostel, each student is under constant watch," he maintained.