65 engg colleges to shut down in Telangana

Hyderabad: Around 60 to 65 engineering, pharmacy and management colleges in the Telangana state are set to shut down from the next academic year. A member of Telangana Private Engineering and Professional Colleges Managements Association said that about 30 colleges have voluntarily come forward to shut down.

“Several colleges in the State have zero admissions and a few have admissions in single digits. What is the use of running colleges without students? Hence the colleges have approached JNTU-Hyderabad not to renew their affiliations,” he added. About 174 colleges were removed from the list of colleges for web-couselling by JNTU citing improper infrastructure and facilities. An official of All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) was of the view that the number of colleges applying for closure will go up during the 2015-2016 academic year owing to inspection by JNTU-H.

“During 2014-2015, we received 50 applications for closures. Due to bifurcation of the State, all colleges could not be shut down. Inspection in three to four colleges is still due. We will close the colleges by December 30,” an official added. Officials of AICTE said that a notification would be released in the last week of December or in the first week of January, calling applications for approval of new colleges and closure of the existing ones for the 2015-2016 academic year. The Telangana government does not want new engineering and management colleges to come up in the state, government sources said.

“It was discussed in a meeting held with the state officials. But the government did not give any formal letter to us. Even if the government does not want fresh colleges in the State, it will not have a binding on us. If a college has adequate facilities and faculty, we will give approval,” an official of AICTE said. The government targeted to close 100 engineering colleges in the State and has almost succeeded, an owner of a private engineering college said.