COIMBATORE: There are 2.64 lakh BE and BTech seats, under the government and management quota, up for grabs for engineering aspirants in Tamil Nadu this year. Of this, 2.63 lakh seats are being offered by the 500 existing engineering colleges while 1,080 seats are in three engineering colleges, permitted by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), to admit students from this academic year.
Apart from this, 1,520 B Arch seats are available in 22 institutions, according to the AICTE.
In the case of postgraduate engineering courses, 30,306 ME and MTech seats are available in 358 engineering colleges.
With regards to MBA programmes, 29,786 seats are available in 350 institutions. Similarly, 10,606 MCA seats are available in 183 institutions.
AICTE has also allowed 179 technical institutions across the country, including 22 in Tamil Nadu, to wind up their operations.
The body has also taken penal action against 159 technical institutions across the country failing to meet standards or committing violations and has reduced their intake by a total of 13,900 seats. This includes 1,875 seats cut in 16 institutions in Tamil Nadu.
"Penalty could be based on even self-disclosure of shortage of faculty, built space, some facilities for students, etc,” said AICTE chairman Anil D Sahasrabudhe.
“Of course in all such cases, the institutes are given the opportunity to show if they have taken care of the deficiencies. Then the standing hearing committee and standing appeal committee will make a recommendation and the council will approve accordingly," he said.
TD Easwaramoorthy, joint secretary of the Consortium of Self Financing Professional, Arts and Science College in Tamil Nadu, is hopeful of a good admission season this year, despite the dull economic environment worsened by the Covid-19-induced lockdown.
"We are getting several telephonic enquiries from students. But, students are not able to visit colleges, as public transportation is banned due to the pandemic. Once public transportation is restored, students will be able to visit colleges, physically see the facilities available and make a decision," he said.
"Amidst the pandemic, the Tamil Nadu government had attracted investments worth Rs 30,000 crore, which could provide 40,000 jobs. Many international companies are keen to invest in India. So, engineering education will see a boom in the coming years," he hoped. In 2019, 2.8 lakh seats (under government and management quotas) were available but only 1.5 lakh seats were taken.
As on Monday, 1.15 lakh engineering aspirants have applied for Tamil Nadu Engineering Admissions to fill up government quota seats in the State’s engineering colleges.
Anna University in May said it would grant provisional affiliation to eligible courses based on AICTE-approvals. The university will be sending inspection committees to verify the data provided to it only after academic activities begin.