Two hundred engineering, MBA and MCA colleges in the State could close down from the coming academic year 2012-13 due to shrinking demand for these degrees. About 95 college managements have put these institutions up for sale and are on the lookout for buyers, who are keen to set up international schools or private universities in these building. Between 2007 and 2010 there was a rush to start new colleges, but the demand was obviously misjudged. This year, 1.60 lakh engineering seats were vacant in 714 engineering colleges after the final phase of Eamcet counselling concluded in October 2011. The total number of seats available in the state is 3.12 lakh.
“It requires an enrolment of at least 300 students to run a college. Ironically, less than 200 colleges in the State have that number. Since the colleges with less than 300 are not financially viable, the managements were left with no option but to close them and put the building and infrastructure for sale,” said Consortium of Engine-ering and Professional Colleges Management Association general secretary K.V.K. Rao.
The delay in payment of arrears of the fee reimbursement scheme, amou-nting to Rs 4,000 crore every year for the last two years, has further compounded the woes of colleges. “Eighty per cent of the students admitted in our colleges depend on the fee reimbursement scheme. However, the government has not been releasing funds till the end of the academic year. Managements are thus not in a position to meet the operational costs like salaries and maintenance. Several colleges are not paying salaries for the last four months. Some managements have taken huge loans from banks to meet operational costs. With no funds from the government, they have defaulted on loan repayment and are facing legal cases. All these issues are prompting managements to sell the colleges,” said Aurora Group of Institutions chairman N. Ramesh.
Out of 700 colleges in the state, nearly 400 are located in and around Hyderabad. The frequent disruption of academic activities on account of the Telangana agitation, from November 2009 till the Sakala Janula Samme in October 2011, adversely affected admissions. “Large numbers of students from Rayalaseema region have migrated to Karnataka, while the migration was huge from coastal districts to Tamil Nadu this year due to frequent disruptions to colleges on account of the Telangana agitation. The fact that about 80,000 students skipped Eamcet counselling despite qualifying this year proves that they have opted for other states. This has led to huge number of seats remaining vacant,” Anurag Group of Institutions chai-rman Rajeshwar Reddy.
