In a move dubbed as “devoid of all reasoning” by private college managements, the Directorate of Technical Education (DTE) has sent the list of the new colleges to the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). The approval came in the wake of a request from private college managements to the government to help fill over 7,000 vacant engineering seats from COMED-K.
Over 4,800 CET seats remain vacant as of now, taking the total tally of unfilled engineering seats to nearly 12,000. The approval for new colleges would mean at least in excess of 3,200 additional seats. Now, with thousands of engineering seats falling vacant each year, private college managements in the City have questioned the wisdom of recommending new colleges.
COMED-K Executive Secretary S Kumar told Deccan Herald that the decision to recommend colleges was devoid of all reasoning. “There is no reason to start more engineering colleges. But we all know that there are certain extraneous factors that play a role,” he said.
He also expressed concern over the fact that the eligibility of candidates was getting lowered with each passing year. “We already have a situation where there are fewer and fewer employable engineering graduates coming out of our colleges,” he said. He criticised the State for taking the direction of the Tamil Nadu government where indiscriminate sanctioning of engineering colleges has resulted in over 32,000 vacant seats this year alone.
Prof Doraiswamy, Chairman, PES group of institutions, also questioned the decision particularly in times of the economic recession. “Already the demand for engineering seats have come down because of a fall in employment opportunities in the IT sector. Where is the hurry to start new colleges?” he asks.
However, B K Rathod, Registrar, DTE, defended the decision as the recommended colleges came under private managements. “We can’t say ‘no’ when private engineering colleges with the necessary facilities apply for approval. We can only inspect the colleges and recommend them. In addition, not all colleges which we recommend are approved,” he said.
The DTE has recommended that a majority of the colleges be allowed to start at least four engineering courses with a maximum intake of 60 students per course. Further, some have also been recommended for integrated courses such as MBA and PG diploma programmes.
The list includes three new colleges in Bangalore followed by two each in Tumkur, Gulbarga and Belgaum. The other districts where new colleges have been recommended include Dakshina Kannada, Mysore, Kolar, Chikballapur and Hassan.