50,000 BE seats likely in a tech maze

In what could put engineering colleges in a grim scenario an estimated 50,000 BE/BTech seats are likely to fall vacant under the Government Quota alone in Tamil Nadu this admission season due to a demand-supply mismatch.

“We expect around 45,000 to 50,000 seats to fall vacant at the end of the single window counselling in late August,” Tamil Nadu Engineering Admission Secretary V Rhymend Uthariaraj told Express. Over 1.70 lakh seats were earmarked under the Government Quota this year.

However, Rhymend says that overall the number of seats filled through the counselling could be higher by around 10,000 compared to 2011.

State Planning Commissioner Member (Education) E Balagurusamy sees this as a warning signal. “Unemployment is a major issue bothering engineering graduates. At least 75% of them are unemployed due to which many BE degree holders have appeared for Group IV examinations (for filling up lowly posts in Government Departments),” he says.

“I am happy that people have now realised the reality and opted to stay away from engineering colleges. Instead they can opt for polytechnic, ITI, and arts and science colleges,” he adds.

According to Balagurusamy, around 40% of the engineering colleges in the State must be closed as they lack in infrastructure and faculty. “I do not know how regulatory bodies like the AICTE are granting approval for these institutions. Fresh BE graduates are teaching students in these institutions instead of PhD and ME degree holders,” he laments.

However, K Paramasivam, president, Association of Management of Coimbatore Anna University Affiliated Colleges disagrees. “Technical graduates play a vital role in the growth of the country. In fact at the national level we require more engineering graduates.

 I do not think existing engineering colleges will be forced to be closed, but there are possibilities that new colleges may not spring up,” he says.

In Chennai and Coimbatore almost 80% seats were filled. “BE graduates must explore setting up own industries as they have technical knowledge,” he adds.