128 Engineering Colleges Closed in Three Years, Majority from Telangana
128 engineering colleges shut down in three years and the majority of these colleges are from Telangana. In the past three years, 26 engineering colleges have been shut in Telangana
AICTE has shut down 128 engineering colleges across the country since 2016, the Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister, Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank informed regarding the same.
According to the report, a total of 26 engineering colleges have been closed. However, the number has declined from 55 in 2016-17 and 47 in 2017-18.
Number of AICTE Approved Engineering Colleges Closed in 2017-18, 2018-19
| States | 2017-18 | 2018-19 |
| Andhra Pradesh | 3 | 1 |
| Chattisgarh | 1 | 1 |
| Haryana | 3 | 2 |
| Gujarat | - | 2 |
| Himachal Pradesh | - | 2 |
| Karnataka | - | 2 |
| Odisha | - | - |
| Madhya Pradesh | 5 | 2 |
| Punjab | 2 | - |
| Rajasthan | 6 | 4 |
| Tamil Nadu | 3 | 3 |
| Telangana | 18 | 2 |
| Uttar Pradesh | 3 | 5 |
| Uttarakhand | - | - |
| West Bengal | - | - |
| Puducherry | - | - |
Proposals have been sent out by various colleges asking AICTE to eliminate the 1.3 lakh B.E/B. Tech and M.E/M. Tech seats but AICTE has not released a decision regarding this yet. It is expected that the regulator will accept 80% of these closure requests. AICTE’s decision will be out in the first week of May in order to provide clearance as to how many seats have been slashed.
New Proposals for Slashing Engineering Seats:
- 83 engineering colleges have asked AICTE for a complete closure. These colleges offer 24,000 seats collectively.
- 494 colleges have asked the regulator to discontinue some of their B.Tech and M.Tech courses. This will lead to a cut down of another 42,000 engineering seats.
- 639 engineering institutes have asked AICTE to reduce a total of 62,000 seats.
Also Read: - 35 Polytechnic Colleges to be Shifted to Permanent Campus; AICTE
Among the 800 technical institutes, 80 (10%) are government-run technical institutes. These colleges failed to attract the students and were not able to fill at least 30% seats in the last five years. These colleges are not in a position to deliver quality education due to lack of financial resources and infrastructure. Therefore, these colleges have no other option except to shut down as per the directions of AICTE.
Member Secretary of AICTE, Mr. Alok Mittal explained that 800 technical institutes were given a time of three years to improve. If these colleges are not able to attract enough number of students in these three years, they will be forced to shut down, he said.
Giving clarification regarding the closure of colleges, Mr. Alok indicated that the decision to close the colleges with less than 30% intake would not be implemented immediately. The decision will not be imposed retrospectively, he added.
Also Read: - ‘Exit Exam’ for Engineering Graduates Proposed by AICTE
AICTE will not shut down the colleges entirely. Only those departments and courses that have less than 30% student intake in the last five years will be asked to shut down. However, these departments will be given a chance to improve.
AICTE has not taken a decision on holding single national-level engineering entrance exam. According to sources, southern states are not in favour of single engineering entrance test.