Maharashtra: No takers for civil, mechanical engineering courses in 28 state colleges

With no takers for traditional courses such as mechanical and civil engineering, the number of seats in many colleges will be reduced or junked for these courses. According to data from the Maharashtra CET cell, there were no enrolments for mechanical and civil engineering programmes in 28 state colleges this year, additionally, admissions in other colleges have also experienced a decline. This year, not a single student enrolled for mechanical engineering courses in 16 colleges, while a similar scenario was witnessed in 12 colleges for civil engineering courses, officials have said.

The figures

There are a total of 253 colleges in the state that offer civil engineering courses, providing a total of 17,268 seats. However, out of these, only 7,114 have been filled, leaving 10,154 vacancies. Among the 253 colleges, 167 have admitted less than 50 per cent of their available seats for civil engineering. A total of 56 colleges have enrolled just five or fewer students in the course.

A total 295 colleges in the state offer mechanical engineering. They have 23,193 seats and admissions were secured for 12,059 seats. Less than 50 per cent of students have taken admission in seats in 160 colleges of these 295 colleges. A total of 74 colleges have enrolled only five or less than five students. According to the Maharashtra CET cell, there are a total of 1,58,585 engineering seats available in the state, with more than 40,000 vacant.

Notably, the majority of vacancies are found in the traditional engineering courses such as mechanical, civil engineering, and automobile engineering. Conversely, courses in computer engineering, information technology (IT), as well as emerging fields like artificial intelligence, data science, and robotics have gained significant popularity. Most colleges offering these courses have filled all available seats.

Principal speak

Talking to mid-day, the principal of a college in Mumbai said, "Colleges grappling with single-digit admissions are increasingly choosing to close down, instead of merely reducing the number of available seats. This decision is hardly surprising, considering the widespread financial challenges faced by the majority of engineering colleges in the state. Colleges seeking to reduce or close seats primarily do so due to the low enrolment in these particular courses."

As per sources, there is a possibility that such colleges will soon discontinue outdated and obsolete courses, and apply for permission to offer new courses in IT, computer science and AI. The principal of another engineering college said, "Conventional courses like civil and mechanical engineering are losing popularity to modern tech-oriented programmes. Students are increasingly inclined towards studying IT-related courses that offer better job prospects. We intend to phase out our civil engineering programme and launch a new course centered around artificial intelligence." M B Warbhuvan, commissioner of the State CET cell said, "We haven't received any applications from colleges to reduce seats or stop courses as yet."

17,268
No of seats in state for civil engineering

7,114
No of those seats that were filled

23,193
No of seats in state for mechanical engineering

12,059
No of those seats that were filled

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