Ahmedabad: Academic and administrative work at several govt engineering colleges across Gujarat was disrupted for nearly a month due to a prolonged internet outage, allegedly caused by delays in renewing internet service contracts.Sources said the contracts with internet service providers at several colleges expired in May or June. Although college principals had reportedly informed the Directorate of Technical Education (DTE) well in advance about the impending expiry, the contracts were not renewed on time, leaving around 10 govt engineering colleges without internet connectivity.While the process to restore services has reportedly begun, officials have not indicated when connectivity will be fully restored, prolonging disruption across campuses.The outage has affected routine academic work in the colleges. Faculty members too faced difficulties in conducting online teaching, accessing academic resources and carrying out day-to-day administrative work. Students, too, were unable to access study materials, online academic updates and other digital services.The disruption also delayed the processing of scholarships, including the Mukhyamantri Yuva Swavalamban Yojana (MYSY) and other financial assistance schemes. Examination-related work, online submissions, official correspondence, salary bill processing and activities linked to govt portals were also affected.In the absence of institutional internet facilities, several faculty members and administrative staff have been using personal internet connections to complete official work, incurring additional expenses.The outage came at a time when admission-related activities are underway, creating inconvenience for prospective students and parents and raising concerns over the functioning of govt engineering colleges.Faculty associations have urged the state govt to restore internet services without further delay, fix accountability for the lapse and initiate action against officials responsible for the delay in renewing the contracts.
