Mohan Reddy Panel Recommends “Not to allow setting up of new Engineering colleges from 2020

No additional seats should be approved in traditional engineering areas
such as mechanical, electrical, civil and electronics

• A government committee with IIT- Hyderabad chairman B V R Mohan Reddy at its helm has submitted a 41-page report to the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) suggesting that the latter halt the creation of new engineering colleges from 2020 and also not approve any additional seats in traditional engineering disciplines.
• The Panel’s main recommendation was “no additional seats should be approved in traditional engineering areas such as mechanical, electrical, civil and electronics and that institutes should be encouraged to convert current capacity in traditional disciplines to emerging new technologies”.
•  This recommendation has been justified on the ground that current capacity utilization in traditional disciplines is just 40% as opposed to 60% seat occupancy in branches such as computer science and engineering, aerospace engineering and mechatronics.
• The committee has urged the AICTE to introduce undergraduate engineering programs exclusively for artificial intelligence, block chain, robotics, quantum  computing, data sciences, cybersecurity and 3D printing and design.

The Reason behind Panel’s Recommendations

•  More than half the engineering seats fall vacant every year
•  There were no takers for 51% of the 15.5 lakh B.E or B.Tech seats in 3,291 engineering colleges in 2016-17.
•  Current capacity utilization in traditional disciplines is just 40% as opposed to 60% seat occupancy in branches such as computer science and engineering, aerospace engineering and mechatronics.
•  There were glaring gaps in regulation, including alleged corruption, a vicious circle of poor infrastructure, labs and faculty, non-existent linkages with industry.
• The absence of a technical ecosystem to nurture the classroom. All this accounted for low employability of graduates.
  As for approving additional seats in existing institutions, the committee has suggested that the AICTE should only give approvals based on the capacity utilization of concerned institute.

Who is B V R Mohan Reddy?

BVR Mohan Reddy is an Indian business executive and engineering manager who founded and served as Executive Chairman of Cyient, (formerly Infotech Enterprises). He was the Chairman of NASSCOM from 2014–2015, and is a prolific business analyst. Reddy also serves as Chairman, Board of Governors of IIT Hyderabad; member on the
Board of NIIT University, Neemrana; and member of Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at IIIT Hyderabad. He holds Padma Shri award 2017 in Trade & Industry.