Engineering Admissions in West Bengal Drop in 2016-17

According to the latest data from AICTE, engineering colleges in West Bengal witnessed a marginal dip in admissions during the academic session 2016-17. As per the data, only 28% engineering seats remained vacant in 2012-13, while the number of vacant seats increased to 42% in 2016-17. The higher number of vacant seats in engineering colleges across the state is the clear indication or poor quality infrastructure and teaching at some of the private engineering colleges.

Also Read: AICTE: Half of the Engineering Seats Vacant in India

A senior professor explained that thousands of students are migrating to other states to pursue technology courses. On the other hand, there has been a tremendous increase in the number of engineering seats over the years. The number of seats in engineering colleges is more, while the number of students evincing interest to join engineering courses is less, he explained.

During the academic session 2016-17, engineering colleges in West Bengal offered 37,593 seats. Out of them, 15,531 seats remained vacant. The number of vacant seats might have increased during the academic session 2017-18.

Also Read: Six States Request AICTE Not to Approve New Colleges

Compared to the states like Assam, Delhi and Karnataka, West Bengal topped the list of highest number of vacant engineering seats. However, West Bengal is better than Haryana and Himachal Pradesh where over 70-75% seats remained vacant. The percentage of vacant engineering seats in other states can be checked below: -

Concerned with the growing number of vacant seats, AICTE decided to shut down over 800 technical institutes across the country.