The Higher Education Review

Based out of Bengaluru-Hassan-Mangaluru National Highway, BGS Institute of Technology (BGSIT) is a rural-based institute with most of its students coming from rural background. Located within a lush green environment, BGSIT operates on an NGO model with the basic ideology of the institute being to promote the rural mass by providing them good education, infrastructure, facilities, and placements.

Sri Sri Sri Dr. Balagangadharanatha Mahaswamiji assumed the holy chair of Sri Adichunchanagiri Mahasamsthana Math in 1974. Poojya Mahaswamiji was truly an enlightened soul. He treated all the people alike without discriminating on the basis of caste, creed, gender or social status. His approach to handling different problems was truly scientific and logical. He implicitly understood the importance of education to the masses in the alleviation of poverty.

Poojya Mahaswamiji was a great visionary with a perfect blend of science and spirituality. He was primarily instrumental in establishing Sri Adichunchanagiri Shikshana Trust that runs more than 500+ Educational institutions catering for about 130000 students across the country to impart quality education from primary to Professional Courses with a special focus on young people of semi-urban and rural areas.

He was rewarded and conferred with innumerable titles for his services in the field of Education, Health, Spiritual, Moral, Social, Cultural and Environmental activities. Most prominent among them are 'Padma Bhushan, Doctor Honoris Causa, Saadhanaacharya, Akshaya Santha Sanatana, Dharmarathna, Seva Soorya, Vidya Samrat, Parisara Rathna, Abhinava Vivekananda, Rashtriya Ekatha Prashasthi' and his holiness was conferred with 'Doctor Honorius Causa' (Honorary Doctor of Science) by the University of Mysore, Karnataka in 2016.

"At BGSIT, we have five branches in UG and MBA, which are Mechanical, Civil, Electronics & Communication, Information Science & Engineering and Computer science & Engineering. Being based out of the rural area, there is not much stable employment, hence, we teach and train the students from the rural areas and help them in getting employed. We also donate our used computers to rural schools and ensure basic computer guidance classes

for young learners. We also conduct various exhibitions and programs to create basic awareness about technology and introduce these technologies to these students from rural schools," shares Dr. Narendra BK, Principal, BGS Institute of Technology (BGSIT).

"BGSIT Operates On An NGO Model With The Basic Ideology Of The Institute Being To Promote The Rural Mass By Providing Them A Good Education, Infrastructure, Facilities, And Placements"

Equipped with the Best
BGSIT has one of the best Educational Infrastructure available digitally-enabled Class Rooms, well-equipped Laboratories and Seminar Halls with Audio-Visual facilities with high configuration systems, Central Library, Canteen, Bank with ATM facility, Transport, Doctor Facility, Multi-Gym, and many such facilitates to make living on campus easy and comfortable. High standard accommodation facilities with hygienic food are provided separately for boys and girls of the student community along with separate residential facilities for the faculty and staff. "All of our classrooms are smart classrooms with digital connections and projectors. We have nearly 1000 computers in our college and many of our students can use these computers for doing their projects through an app, 24/7. We also provide laptops to our students in M.Tech courses and most of the learning is done through those," contributes Dr. Narendra BK, Principal BGS Institute of Technology (BGSIT).

Approved by all Council for Technical Education, New Delhi; affiliated by Visveswaraya Technological University, Belagavi & Adichunchanagiri University and recognized by the Government of Karnataka, BGSIT has the unique distinction of having learned faculty for teaching in respective disciplines. The dynamic and committed faculty and staff ensure high standards of learning and embedding social and ethical values. Elaborating further, Dr. Narendra BK, says, "We have a lot of technologies available with us and we also have a dedicated cell that helps in creating new syllabuses. Our faculties are offered separate computers and have access to high-speed internet. We also provide online training which is conducted by industry experts. At the end of each semester, each department conducts an exclusive faculty development program. We also conduct dedicated industry visits, through which we ensure that our faculty gain skill-based training. If our faculty wants to publish research papers we also sponsor them for such purposes."

Driven by Industry-Oriented Approach
With a placement record where 95 percent of its students are

getting placed after passing out, BGSIT envisions keeping up the development. The institute has a dedicated training program for its students which will help them get placed. Since BGSIT mostly deals with rural students, the quality of education that they have received is very low in most cases, however, BGSIT has given them special training and has improved their knowledge in order to make them employable. "We train our students in communication and other soft skills. We have our own MOU and have nearly a crore worth of software in stock. We also have our own labs which are fully equipped and well maintained. At BGSIT, we also have a dedicated R and D team for all our departments. With nearly 60 percent of our faculties being doctorate holders and the rest doing their Ph.D., the trainers are well-equipped to assist the students. We also have tie-ups with foreign universities, so we also conduct student exchange programs. Our students go there and finish their internships where they get international exposure. We also have MOEs with various industries which help our students to go and do an internship in those companies," explains Dr. Narendra BK, Principal BGS Institute of Technology (BGSIT).

BGSIT also honors scholarship to its students which are merit-based and if a student has more than 90 percent marks, BGSIT will reduce the tuition fees. If a department wants to do a special project and if the project is approved by the college, that department gets a grant of 20,000 rupees to conduct that project. "We encourage our students to do projects that can be patented in the future. If the project is patented, then the college will provide the entire amount which should be given at the time of getting a patent. We have our own incubation center which helps our students to develop prototypes of their project," includes Dr. Narendra BK.

With its strong industry relations with companies like Volvo, TCS, Wipro Automation Anywhere and more, BGSIT now boasts of around seven industry collaborations in total. In the future, BGSIT is planning to include various skill-based courses in its college. With its dedicated skill hunting team which looks for the latest trends and needs in the industry, the institute is all set to make students industry-ready. BGSIT is also planning to start an aeronautical course and solid waste management course in the future along with different training programs for the rural population to increase their employability.