To B.E. Or Not To B.E.

The figures say it all. At the end of the counselling sessions held by the Punjab Technical University (PTU) to which 41 engineering colleges of the state are affiliated, about 40 per cent of the seats are still lying vacant. Out of a total of 12,410 seats, there are no takers for 4,000. The situation in Haryana is only slightly better. At the end of central counselling conducted by the Guru Jambeshwar University (GJU) for its 10,195 seats (excluding the 25 per cent management quota), as many as 2,000 seats are vacant.

So desperate is the hunt for candidates in Punjab that the PTU has allowed even those students who have not appeared in any engineering entrance examination to be considered for admission. And this has led to the charge that the university is lowering its standards. The PTU’s vice chancellor Dr S.K. Salwan told Outlook, "We had to resort to this in order to fill up the seats this year." With counselling having been completed for all categories of students by the PTU, the field is now open for the college managements to fill their seats on their own.

Initially, the government had fixed 33 per cent (approximately 3,500 seats) for the management quota (MQ) in private engineering colleges. Now all the unfilled seats have been transferred to the MQ. Many colleges have not been able to fill even their allotted quota of management seats. Points out an officer of the state technical education department: "Frankly speaking, from this point onwards, PTU has allowed managements to fill up their seats with candidates from just about anywhere." Officials acknowledge that this has led to a sorry state where candidates with less than 40 per cent marks in class XII are getting admission to engineering courses.

According to Devender Kasnia, registrar, GJU, Haryana: "Most of the seats are vacant in the newer colleges which do not have adequate infrastructure, or those which are situated in rural areas." Some like the Bhagwan Parshuram College of Engineering in Gohana and the dav College of Engineering in Kanina have been able to fill just 50 per cent of their seats. "We now have a sorry situation in which managements are being forced to give admission to students with 35 per cent marks," points out Kasnia.

Faced with an unprecedented shortage of students, managements are now offering ‘scholarships’—a euphemism for fee concessions. "Any percentage, No CET (common entrance test), No AIEEE (All India engineering entrance examination) required"... reads an advertisement of an engineering college in Punjab which has more than half its seats vacant. Many colleges are offering annual fee concessions between Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000. Others have begun marketing their courses in countries like Mongolia, Nepal and Burma. "As a result of our marketing efforts, we have managed to get seven students from Mongolia. We have begun an advertising campaign in other neighbouring countries as well," says Prem Gandhi, chairman of the KC Institute of Engineering and Technology at Patiala. Out of the 240 seats allotted to his college, Gandhi got just nine students from the PTU counselling and has another 70 candidates under the MQ.

In the last two to three years, there has been a rash of private engineering colleges across Punjab and Haryana.The countryside is dotted with newly constructed buildings, many of which house a cluster of colleges ranging from engineering to management to nursing. Opening an educational institution, preferably a technical one, was seen as a lucrative business proposition. From 16 engineering colleges in 2000, Punjab now has 41. Haryana had 24 such colleges in 2000; this has gone up to 36.

Apart from a handful of established educational societies and the few government or university-run institutions, most of the new colleges in Punjab and Haryana are owned by local hoteliers, property dealers and brick kiln owners. There is one run by a family which made its money running a chain of popular sweet shops across Punjab. There are also several legislators and politicians who have jumped into the business either as sleeping partners or as members of the managing trusts. Says Dr Salwan: "We know that many engineering colleges have been opened by people who know nothing about education, but in accordance with the policy of privatising education, we really cannot stop anyone from opening a college."

Inderjeet Bajaj, chairman of two engineering colleges in Punjab and Haryana, typifies the new breed of college-owners. Besides running a hotel in Chandigarh, he has a steel rolling mill in Dera Bassi in Punjab. "I ventured into technical education seven years ago when I opened an engineering college in Jagadhri in Haryana," he says. This year he has opened one in Punjab. "It is good business. The best thing about it is that, in addition to the money, it bestows on me the status of an educationist," he adds.

Quality education is clearly the first casualty in this situation. "Most struggling colleges recruit substandard staff, scrimp on laboratory facilities and in some cases, do not even have proper buildings," observes Dr M.S. Grewal, registrar of PTU. College managements agree that with the current crunch, they will not be able to pay the standard grade to their teachers. Typically, a college needs to have at least 175 students paying the full fees to be financially viable. PTU officials admit that in 80 per cent of the private engineering colleges, the staff is paid between Rs 4,000 to Rs 6,000 a month as against the laid down grade of Rs 13,500.

The situation in Punjab is compounded by the falling standards of the PTU itself. The university, which was set up in 1997 to develop a climate for technical education in the state, is today known more for its controversies and political shenanigans. It has seen six vice-chancellors in the seven years of its existence. The previous VC, the eminent scientist Dr Y.S. Rajan, left in disgust a couple of months ago when he was overruled in a matter which he felt would dilute the university’s standards. The university has also been unable to rid itself of 95 ‘illegally’ appointed officials who have been declared "tainted" by the Punjab State Vigilance Bureau. Their political clout with the previous technical education minister is common knowledge and most of them belong to his village.

The boom in the engineering college business is clearly over. Points out Gandhi: "Some years ago, when there were fewer private technical colleges, we saw that managements were making Rs 8 to Rs 9 crore annually. Donations for management quota seats would range from Rs 1-5 lakh and it was all hunky dory. Seeing their success many others like me also jumped into the business. Some owners and chairmen of private engineering colleges are not even graduates. What vision can you expect them to have?" About 20,000 students appeared for the common entrance test conducted by PTU this year. Although the number of seats is going up steadily each year (four new engineering colleges are in the pipeline), the number of students sitting for the university’s CET in the last three years has been stagnant—a reflection of the growing disenchantment among students for engineering degrees.