Nishikant Khajuria
Despite the growing demand for technical education, Engineering Colleges across Jammu and Kashmir have been finding themselves grappling with huge number of unfilled seats. Not only in the private institutions, but also in the Government College of Engineering and Technology Jammu, seats are remaining vacant in various streams.
The situation can be gauged from the fact that Board of Professional Entrance Examination (BOPEE), Jammu and Kashmir, did not conduct the Combined Entrance Test (CET) for admissions in the J&K Engineering Colleges for the last few years as the number of candidates remained less than the total number of seats. Even as applications were being invited from the eligible and desirous candidates for appearing in the CET for admission to BE/B Tech Engineering Courses in the Government and private institutions in the Union Territory, admissions are being made on the basis of academic marks as the need for entrance test did not arise because of less number of candidates.
In addition to the University Engineering Institutes, there are six private Engineering Colleges in J&K; three each in Jammu and Kashmir divisions besides Government College of Engineering and Technology Jammu. For the last few years, 50 to 90 percent seats in these colleges are remaining vacant thus raising serious concern over survival of these professional institutes in J&K.
“Our college has the permission for more than 300 seats but in the last year we got only four students through counseling by BOPEE while seven seats of management under NRI quota were filled by us on our own. Thus we had only 11 students admitted in our college last year and you can imagine how difficult it is to run an Engineering College having infrastructure and faculty strength as per requirement of more than 300 intake capacity but only 11 seats filled up,” said Principal of a private Engineering College.
Taking serious note of the unfilled seats, Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo recently chaired a meeting of BOPEE and sought details of the calendar of examinations and admissions made for the professional courses by the Board. The meeting was attended by Principal Secretary, Higher Education; Commissioner Secretary, GAD; Chairperson, BOPEE; Controller of Examinations, BOPEE; and other officers concerned. The Chief Secretary purportedly delved upon possible reasons for such vacancies and the way forward to fill these in future. He advised for taking all possible steps to fill these vacancies in beginning of the academic year. He maintained that the reasons hindering admissions to the courses should be looked into seriously to enable local students secure admissions in colleges offering such degrees.
On the basis of ground realities and view point of the various stakeholders, the Excelsior comes to know that the issue of vacant seats in engineering colleges across J&K is a multifaceted challenge that requires careful examination at the Government and college level . Outdated admission rules on management quota and filling up of vacant seats, unprecedented delay in conducting admission process by the BOPEE, non-adherence of the academic calendar, limited job opportunities for the professionals in Jammu and Kashmir, lack of quality infrastructure, mismatch between Industry requirement and the courses, no scholarship scheme like PMSSS for the students studying in J&K Engineering colleges, security concern and perception are among the reasons behind vacant seats in Engineering colleges.
Despite the 2002 Supreme Court Full Bench ruling on admission criteria in engineering colleges and recommendations on the management quota, the Department of Higher Education in Jammu and Kashmir has failed to frame the new admission rules in the last two decades. Since there is no management quota in seats, except five percent for the NRIs, Engineering colleges in J&K are not in a position to invite students for taking admission in their respective institutes unlike their counterparts in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal and other States where the management quota is 20 to 30 percent. In Kerala, the management quota is 50 percent, which means the a college can fill upto 50 percent of the total seats on its own.
Further, as per the SC guidelines, there should be a centralized counseling by the Government and the vacant seats after counseling may be filled up by the respective colleges on the basis of AICTE eligibility criteria, However, the same is not allowed in J&K because of old rules and no admission can be made by the colleges on their own in case the seats remain vacant after counseling by BOPEE.
Pertinent to mention that Nursing and Para-Medical Institutes across J&K have also been facing the similar problem of unfilled seats for the last several years. However, the J&K Administrative Council recently gave its nod allowing these colleges to fill up the vacant seats on their own after the completion of counseling by BOPEE and a formal order on the same is likely to be issued after Modal Code of Conduct in the wake of ongoing Lok Sabha elections is lifted.
However, in the case of Engineering Colleges, the Department of Higher Education is sitting on the process of making necessary amendments in the admission rules. In a short reply before the High Court of Jammu Kashmir and Ladakh, submitted last year in response to a writ petition by the Yogananda College of Engineering, the department had claimed that it was under process to make necessary amendments in the rules fixing 25 percent Management quota, allowing colleges to fill up vacant seats after admission process by BOPEE is over, allowing lateral entry to unfilled vacancies of the Ist year in addition to 10 percent etc, keeping in view the Supreme Court judgement. But there has been no progress on the same for the reasons best known to the concerned authorities.
Further, due to non-adherence of the academic calendar, BOPEE used to delay the admission process every year with the result most of the students prefer to take admission outside J&K colleges. “By the time students were invited for counseling by BOPEE in 2022, the college in Noida where I got my daughter admitted, had completed almost one fourth of the First semester syllabus,” said Rakesh Kumar.
According to Vidhi Singh Jamwal, Chairman of Yogananda College of Engineering, lackadaisical attitude of the Government in amending the old rules as per SC judgement and delay in counseling are the main reasons behind the vacancies. “If the Government makes amendments in admission rules as per SC order and fixes management quota in seats besides allowing us to fill vacant seats after counseling by BOPEE, like in other parts of the country, the vacancies can be filled up to some extent,” he stressed.
Dr Minu Mahajan, who recently took over as Chairperson of J&K BOPEE, admitted that delay in conducting counseling for the admissions was one of the reasons behind seats remaining vacant and now efforts are being made to plug the causes. “After digging out the reasons, we have preponed and squeezed the process this year and the Board is hopeful of conducting counseling by first week of June,” she added.
While elaborating, the Chairperson said that multiple factors were involved behind delay in counseling and during meeting with the Chief Secretary, she brought the matter into his notice who took all the departments into loop and issued necessary directions. “For example, the concerned universities have recently furnished the affiliation letters to these colleges , which used to be earlier delayed thus forcing BOPEE to keep the counseling on hold as students couldn’t be admitted in the college having affiliation pending,” she explained.
Another major factor contributing to the vacant seats is the limited job opportunities available in the region post-graduation. Despite obtaining a degree with good CGPA, Engineering graduates struggle to find suitable employment opportunities within Jammu and Kashmir, leading them to seek opportunities elsewhere. Moreover, very few companies visit here for conducting campus placement with the result students prefer to have admission in outside colleges for better opportunities.
Further, lack of any scholarship scheme for the students studying in J&K Engineering colleges and on the other hand, offer of PMSSS (Prime Minister Special Scholarship Scheme) for economically weaker students for studying in colleges outside J&K, is also a major factor behind the seats remaining vacant here. Mismatch between latest demand in Industry and engineering courses, militancy and security concerns are also playing role to some extent in dissuading students from enrolling in institutions located here, opined some parents.
Besides, one of the reasons for vacant seats in engineering and professional institutions in Jammu and Kashmir is the lack of quality infrastructure and faculty. Many institutions struggle with inadequate facilities, outdated equipment, and insufficient faculty members. This also hampers their ability to attract students and provide a conducive learning environment.
Therefore, addressing the issue of vacant seats requires a concerted effort from various stakeholders, particularly Government bodies, educational institutions, and the industry. These measures include framing of new admission rules as per SC guidelines and fixing management quota besides allowing these colleges to admit students as per AICTE eligibility criteria after completion of counseling by BOPEE, timely counseling by BOPEE, scholarship facility on the lines of PMSSS, infrastructure development, strengthening collaboration between academia and industry, encouraging entrepreneurship and providing support for StartUps, etc. By taking these measures, we can work towards ensuring that these institutions reach their full potential contributing to the socio-economic development of the region and the local students are not required to go outside J&K for the Engineering degrees.
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