38 undergraduate, postgraduate courses in 20 technical institutes of Odisha closed as demand plummets

Others include MBA as well as Electrical Engineering, Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering at Diploma level.

BHUBANESWAR: Plunging demand for engineering degrees, made worse by the uncertainties caused by Covid-19 pandemic, has resulted in the closure of 38 undergraduate and postgraduate courses in 20 different technical colleges and universities of Odisha by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) from the ensuing academic session 2020-21.

Due to poor turnout of students, BTech intake in private engineering colleges in the State reduced by 3,947 seats from 38,296 in 2018-19 to 34,223 in 2019-20. The uncertainty prevailing in the overall economy, employment cut as well as a decline in productivity and revenue has further piled up the woes on the technical institutions.

According to AICTE, admission to at least 32 engineering and professional courses in different universities and colleges in Khurda district have been stopped from the current academic session. They include Electronics and Computer Science, Robotics and Automation, Food Engineering and Technology, Aero Space Engineering, Construction Technology and Management, Computer Science and Engineering and Mechanical Engineering at the UG level (BTech).

In the PG level, programmes such as PGDM, Thermal Power Engineering, Electrical Power System, Communication Systems, Power Electronics and Power System, Polymer Engineering, LIpid Engineering and Textiles Processing Technology have been discontinued. Others include MBA as well as Electrical Engineering, Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering at Diploma level.

Apart from private universities and colleges, courses have been closed in three Government institutes such as College of Engineering and Technology, Dhenkanal Autonomous College and Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai (Odisha Campus).

The information provided by the apex advisory body in the technical education says that progressive closure of these courses in which no further admission will be allowed from the 2020-21 academic session has been announced due to poor intake.

Secretary of Odisha Private Engineering College Association (OPECA) Binod Dash said lack of demand forced the universities and institutes to seek closure of these programmes from AICTE.

“Despite repeated requests to Biju Patnaik University of Technology (BPUT) for setting up of at least 10 Centres of Excellence in advance engineering courses including Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, it hasn’t been considered yet, he added.

While OPECA sources said that at least two professional institutes from the State have also been shut down from the current academic session, BPUT Registrar HS Behera said that he has not received the list of institutes yet.