There are no takers for about 30% of engineering seats in Telangana this year as the previous governments sanctioned engineering colleges indiscriminately without any rationale, Deputy Chief Minister and Education Minister Kadiyam Srihari said during Question Hour in the Legislative Council on Wednesday.
Responding positively to TRS member R. Bhoopathi Reddy’s query whether there was any proposal to set up a College of Engineering on the campus of Telangana University in Nizamabad, Mr. Srihari said at present there were 251 engineering colleges offering B.Tech degree. While the AICTE approved 1.26 lakh seats, the sanctioned intake was 97,961 seats but this year’s enrolment was 68,514.
The Government had stepped up inspection of engineering colleges to ensure quality academic atmosphere and infrastructure and only 212 colleges were given affiliation this year, he said.
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The Government also prepared a perspective plan and identified 14 thrust areas where new engineering colleges and courses would be sanctioned and the proposal had been sent to the AICTE.
The Minister said that if 1.55 lakh students appeared for the entrance test, 1.3 lakh students qualified but not even 82,000 to 85,000 students were taking admissions. Even in Convenor quota, of 66,334 seats, only 48,000 seats were filled. Because of strict monitoring, non-serious students were no longer taking admissions, he added.
Pointing out the disproportionate presence of engineering colleges in the State, he said while there were 122 engineering colleges in Ranga Reddy district, there was only one college in Adilabad. “We wrote to the AICTE to sanction colleges in Adilabad, Nizamabad, and other backward districts”.
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Leader of Opposition Mohd. Ali Shabbir said that 50% of engineering colleges were closed and thus seats were also reduced in the last three years yet the Government was not releasing fee reimbursement regularly. TRS member Palla Rajeswar Reddy said across the States, only 50% to 60% of engineering seats were getting filled.
Responding to a query from Congress member P. Sudhakar Reddy, he said under the Rashtriya Uchtar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) scheme with Central and State Share of 60:40 respectively for development of universities and degree colleges, Centre sanctioned ₹174 crore in three years and ₹80 crore was released.
The proposals worth ₹149 crore for the second phase were submitted and a decision was expected soon. Four model degree colleges were under various stages of completion at Kalwakurthy, Yellareddy, Narayankhed and Luxettipet, he said.