Out of the Box Course: Planning

There are 2 main problems with our college- First, absence of Placement. Second, College location. Absence of campus placement even though there is a placement cell, has created major issues for students who want to start working right after they finish college. Our college is situated 20kms away from main Bhopal city in a village names Bhauri. This gives major issues with connectivity. We can't avail city benefits anytime we want. We are majorly dependent on our college buses that visit city in the evenings on during weekdays.

AIEEE (B.Arch/B.Plan), 2012Score 205 Marks with All India Rank (AIR) 3258. I originally wanted to opt for Architecture but was given Planning. I agreed to pursue it because of the "tag name of the college" (SPA is a renowned institute of MHRD) and also, because B.Plan is not a mainstream course. I wanted to do something out of the box in life.

My first internship experience went well. I did my internship at IDA i.e. Indore Development Authority for 2 months. This helped me figure out how it feels to work in a government organization. My second internship was done at a NGO named Parisar in Pune which works mainly at urban transport issues in Pune. This was a unique experience, much different from the first one as it was a NGO.

Unfortunately there are no placement and job opportunities available in our campus. No company has come till now. Although there is a training and placement cell available. But placement has never really taken place till now. More efforts by students and faculties are required.

Within the college, there is an annual cultural fest names Synergy. This is celebrated in even semesters when we welcome first year batches to our college. During this even Freshers night is celebrated. This is a 3 days event. Sports events within college have also been celebrated but at a small scale. NOSPlan Convention, an annual fest for department of planning was held in our college in 2014. This was a grand festival in which all planning colleges from the country participated. Our college was a proud host of NOSPlan and the event turned out to be very successful.

Since SPA-B is a central government college, fee structure is quite feasible. We are provided with best hostel facilities (2 seater, furnished huge rooms with attached balconies), Wifi facilities and Mess.Annual Fee Details: Tuition Fee: 32,000/- Examination Fee: 2,000/- Student Activity: 2,500/- Sports/Gym: 1000/-Other (Medical, Library etc.): 5,000/-Hostel: 12,000/-Mess: 18,000/-Total: 75,500

Scholarships are given by government to SC/ST students (which is unfair I feel personally). Other than this there are Merit and Merit-cum-Means scholarships available.Also, PG or PhD students who are GATE scholars get GATE scholarship as well.

On campus life is great. It truly shows how a college life should be. Our campus is new and its huge but is under construction at present. Not many events have occurred within campus till now because the campus isn't fully made. Still short events like exhibitions, music nights, volleyball tournaments take place frequently.

Hostels are huge, 90% students reside in hostel. All rooms have double occupancy, are well furnished with wooden beds, cupboards, night lamps, study tables, chair. All rooms have attached balconies. Mess facility is available on ground floor of hostel. There is a counsellor and a doctor available in hostels from morning to evening. There are total 3 hostels in campus. 2 for boys and 1 for girls. Mess food is hygienic. There is a night canteen available in mess too. I would rate 4/5 to our mess.

College seniors are cooperative and understanding. The relation with them has been great. No ragging issues seen in our college which is a very good part about it.

In one semester, there are 2 main exams- Mid Sems (30% weightage) and End Sems (40% weightage). Mid sems occur in the mid of a semester whereas end sems appear in the end. Remaining 30% marks are given on the basis of internal assignments and attendance. Luckily, these exams are not very hectic and are planned well.

We have total 15 faculty members in our department. The faculties are highly educated with many of them holding a doctorate degree with them. Our faculties train us well on both field and classrooms. Our faculty members are a mix of assistant professors, associate professors and visiting faculties. Our current HoD is Dr. Binayak Chaudhary. We are proud to have such intellectual minds among us who are ready to help us at every stage. Most of our faculty members live in campus and are very helpful even after college hours.