180 new colleges seek AICTE nod, 40 want to close

The All-India Council for Technical Education has got around 180 applications from across the country, requesting approval for new undergraduate technical institutions despite a huge number of engineering seats going vacant.

In the last academic year, modest estimates show that a few lakh seats remained vacant in engineering colleges. In Tamil Nadu, around 1 lakh seats had no takers, including more than 50,000 government quota seats. But the vacant seats have not deterred trusts from starting institutions. From TN, the AICTE received around 30 applications for new engineering colleges. At the same time, 40 professional colleges have applied for closure.

Aspiring college managements continue to besiege All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) with applications for approval to start courses despite 40 engineering colleges across the country informing the council that they want to shut down.

This year, AICTE has given institutions time till February 10 to send in applications, and till February 20 to apply with late fee. It has received 180 applications from across the country, 30 of which are for new engineering colleges in Tamil Nadu. If most of the approvals are cleared, it could mean an addition of 30,000 new seats to a sector that is bursting at the seams. In addition, AICTE allows all engineering colleges to increase intake by 60 seats every year if they have the required infrastructure and faculty. AICTE chairman S S Mantha said: "They must provide quality else they will be finished."

On the other hand, 40 existing undergraduate institutions, including engineering, pharmacy and architecture colleges, have applied for closure. In Tamil Nadu, at least one institution has asked to be allowed to close down.

Tamil Nadu has always had a profusion of engineering colleges. By the end of the 2012-13 admission cycle, the state had 525 engineering colleges, but students seemed wary about accepting a seat just anywhere. Last year, 1.69 lakh candidates applied for 1.73 lakh seats through the single window counselling system. The absentee rate was 20%, and one lakh engineering seats, including 55,000 government quota seats, were empty.

Some newer branches in the 48 engineering courses got less than 10 takers, and some colleges admitted just 100 students. "With classrooms remaining empty and every day bills running to lakhs, some new and tier-three colleges are struggling to pay overhead costs," said educational consultant Moorthy Selvakumaran.