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The government committee, headed by the IIT Hyderabad Chairman, Mr BVR Mohan Reddy, recommended the apex statutory body for technical education i.e. All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) to stop permitting new engineering colleges from the year 2020. Furthermore, the committee has also recommended the AICTE officials to evaluate the new capacity every two from now. It might be seen as the wake-up call to improve the Indian education system.

This decision has come after an investigation took place in December 2017 revealed that as many as 51% of all the 15.5 lakh seats offered in 3291 engineering colleges in the academic year 2016-17 remained vacant. Consequently, the AICTE had decided to reduce the number of intake in each college to resolve the issue and improve the quality of engineering education – however, this approach did not succeed. The investigation, furthermore, exposed some scandalous facts that showed a really bad image of the engineering colleges in India that includes poor infrastructure, lack of commendable teachers, corruption and bad atmosphere in colleges. Owing to these unacceptable factors, the number of ineligible and unemployed engineers is increasing with each passing year, the investigation report suggests. Following which the AICTE officials appointed a committee to look into this matter more shrewdly.

The committee, in a support of this decision, has handed-over a suggestion report consisting of 41 pages to the AICTE officials – the AICTE officials are yet to consider these suggestions.

Let us take a look at these suggestions the committee has submitted to the AICTE officials!

Panel's Suggestions to AICTE

1. The AICTE should stop giving approval to establishments of new engineering colleges from the year 2020.
2. Owing to the technological advancement, there should be new undergraduate courses introduced in the fields of 3D Printing and Design, Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Cybersecurity, Knowledge Sciences, Quantum Computing and Robotics etc.
3. The AICTE should not approve additional seats in the traditional engineering courses such as Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Electronics Engineering and Mechanical Engineering etc.
4. The engineering colleges should be allowed to transform the capacity of traditional courses as mentioned above to the new and emerging engineering fields.

The report further says, “While we take such a serious decision, we also recognize that there could be some applications in the pipeline for additional/new capacity applied for in the last one or two years. These may be pending for want of some minor clearances. So, applications for starting institutions, made in the current year and the past two years, may be considered if the infrastructure is already in place.”

Anil Sahastrabuddhe, the head of AICTE, has confirmed that the committee has submitted its report and the suggestions are under the consideration by the technical education regulator.