Psst... Tech Is Cheap

In Tamil Nadu, the sheer numbers are mind-numbing. The state, which churns out the largest number of engineering graduates in the country from its 256 engineering colleges, saw no takers for 21,505 engineering seats this year. Last year, 12,000 seats lay vacant and in 2001, 9,000 seats. Today, virtually any one with 35 per cent marks in the plus-two exams can aspire to become an engineer after the TN government relaxed the qualifying norm to help fill vacant seats in 2002.

Despite this, some 27,000 seats have no takers. Many can't pay up. Seats come in three categories: 'free seats' and 'payment seats' on the basis of rank, and 'management quota'. Following complaints that private colleges were fleecing students, the government fixed Rs 30,000 as the fee for BE/BTech courses for 'free seats'. However, a student who sought to enrol at the Vellammal College of Engineering this year had to pay Rs 60,000 for a 'free seat'. This economically-backward student applied for a loan, but she says, "The college management refused to give us a copy of the fee structure, the bank wouldn't clear the loan without it."

Some private colleges have lowered fees, but there are still no students. The supply, of unreliable quality, far outstrips demand. As of July 27, the last date of counselling, only 15 per cent of the seats in 55 colleges had been filled under the single-window system overseen by the Chennai-based Anna University. In 31 colleges, only 10 seats or less could be filled in all branches; a few colleges attracted only one or two students, while one recently-affiliated college did not have even a single student. Anna University VC E. Balagurusamy says the high fee structure and the prospect of eventual unemployment owing to a surplus of engineers were responsible.

Says former VC of Anna University Dr M. Anandakrishnan: "It's become a buyer's market. However, given the existing fee level, where some good colleges extract more than a lakh per year, even middle-class families can't afford an engineering degree for their children." Asked why we still see a proliferation of private colleges, Anandakrishnan says, "Since even a BA degree in a good private college costs Rs 20,000 these days, people don't mind shelling out more for a BE. Besides, for women, irrespective of their employment prospects, the marriage prospect for engineer brides is more."