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AICTE Reduces Over 5000 Engineering Seats
In a major blow to private engineering colleges in Maharashtra, just ahead of the admission session, the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has directed as many as 73 institutes to reduce their intake capacity, mainly because of poor infrastructure, shortage of teaching staff and lack of other basic facilities.
As per the AICTE`s directive, which was posted on its official website late Sunday evening, as many as 5375 seats will have to be reduced.
While 20 colleges in Mumbai have been hit by the AICTE`s order, 12 colleges each from Marathwada and Vidharba region of the state have also been asked to reduce their intake. Similarly, eight colleges from North Maharashtra and six from Konkan region have also been asked by the AICTE to reduce the number of seats for admission.
In Pune region, 15 engineering colleges have been asked by the council to reduce their intake, totalling 200 seats. The prominent colleges include Vidya Pratisthan`s College of Engineering in union minister Sharad Pawar`s home constituency, Baramati (30 seats); Army Institute of Technology (15 seats); Vishwakarma Institute of Information Technology (45 seats); Modern College of Engineering (30 seats), and the MIT-managed Maharashtra Academy of Engineering, located at Alandi (10 seats).
Maharashtra has 151 engineering colleges with a total of 46,661 seats for admission this academic year.
While this is not the first time the council has issued reduction in the intake, Maharashtra director of technical education, NV Pasalkar, when contacted in Mumbai, said the affected colleges are also being given an opportunity to present their individual cases before the council, following which the later may take a decision to restore its position.
He, however, said his office is yet to receive an official communication from the AICTE in this regard till Monday afternoon.
Pratap Borade, principal of the Vidya Pratisthan`s College of Engineering, who has been asked to reduce 15 seats each from the departments of information technology and computer engineering, expressed astonishment at the decision.
Why single out the private college alone when even the government institutions are facing shortage of teaching staff, he questioned, also terming the AICTE`s decision as biased.
There is strong lobby working at the Centre against the flourishing number of technical education in the state, Borade said, adding that had it not been of Sharad Pawar, the college had decided to move court against the AICTE decision. We are now going for an appeal.
According to VA Rahane, the registrar of the Modern Education Society`s College of Engineering which has also been asked to reduce its intake by 15 seats in the computer department, told TNN that a proposal for appeal will soon be cleared by the management, following which it will be forwarded to the AICTE before the last date of July 7. We fail to understand the logic behind reducing the intake of our college, he said, refusing to provide further details.
While principal of AIT, SR Ghate, refused comment, director of the college, Lt Gen (retd) Mahesh Vij, when contacted, said the council has already been asked to specify the basis for such a reduction. Ours is a different kind of college where children of only defence officers and other ranks study, he said, hinting at the option of seeking an appeal against the decision.
A senior member of the Maharashtra association of private engineering colleges said all members across the state are meeting in the next couple of days to chalk out its future course of action. We will definitely appeal before the AICTE, said the official, who didn`t want to be named.