At the end of the engineering admission process across the state on Friday, around 20 colleges failed to reach the double digits in student intake raising serious doubts about their future.
Around 30,000 of the total 46,000 BTech seats remain vacant this year. While this has been the trend for the past three years, the situation was never this bad.
Shyam Sundar Patnaik, vice-chancellor of Biju Patnaik University of Technology (BPUT), to which the engineering colleges are affiliated, said he would review the situation and take a call. “While students’ interest can’t be compromised, we also have to think of the entrepreneurs who have opened the institutions,” he said.
The admission to engineering colleges is conducted by the Odisha Joint Entrance Examination Committee, an independent body, and BPUT has no role to play in it.
Though engineering seats lying vacant is a national phenomenon, especially in Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Maharashtra and Telengana, there are certain specific reasons behind the poor admission record in Odisha.
The Odisha Professional Education Act, 2007, bars engineering colleges in the state from admitting more than 15% students from outside the state. “Maybe when the Act was passed, such a cap on admitting outside state students was appropriate. Personally, I feel, the government should review the Act to accommodate more non-Odisha students against vacant seats,” the VC said.
Secondly, counselling in Odisha is done after other states and universities. “Within the state also, private and deemed universities conduct their admission way before BPUT,” said Odisha private engineering college association secretary Binod Dash.
NIT Rourkela director Mr.Sunil Sarangi said it was a cause of serious concern. “Running these courses will not be financially viable,” he added.
Sarangi said the government must take steps to strengthen school education and reduce dropout rate. Otherwise, there would never be enough students for higher studies, he said.
Former VC of Veer Surendra Sai University of Technology, Burla, Bijay Nanda said engineering institutions across the country were facing such problems because of the supply far exceeding demand.
Prasanta Patnaik 
Simanchal