Bhubaneswar, March 16: The state government will increase the number of engineering seats in at least six government institutes.

An technical education department official said that at least 1,035 seats would be added in the BTech, MTech, MSc and the integrated dual degree courses at various colleges.

'The admissions to these enhanced courses will start from this academic year,' said additional secretary of the technical education department P.K. Das.

The seats will be increased at College of Engineering and Technology in Bhubaneswar, Indira Gandhi Institute of Technology at Sarang, Veer Surendra Sai University of Technology at Burla, Parala Maharaja Engineering College in Berhampur, Government Engineering College in Kalahandi and Government School of Engineering in Keonjhar, said Das.

The distribution of seats will be announced later, he said. The department has also asked these institutions to improve their respective postgraduate teaching and research activities. To ensure that the government colleges compete with their private counterparts, these college authorities have also been directed to intensify their networking to boost the placement activities.

On infrastructure front, too, the department is planning to enhance the existing facilities in these institutions and modernising the equipment in laboratories.

In another development, the department has written to the All India Council of Technical Education to accord approval to the proposals for an increase in the intake capacity and introduction of new programmes at the technical institutions.

The department has urged the council to relax the mandatory norms of the National Board of Accreditation and introduce new courses for the current academic year.

'The council's approval to the undergraduate and postgraduate programmes of government technical universities and engineering colleges is essential,' secretary of the employment and technical education and training C.S. Kumar said in a letter to the council's acting chairman Avinash S. Pant.

'It is required,' the letter stated, 'to take forward the government initiative for capacity expansion of the government institutions in the interest of poor and meritorious students of the state'.

The institutions have applied for approval of the council for additional intake and introduction of new programmes, according to the decision of the state government.

While the development has thrilled the students of this admission season, it has, however, not gone down well with the private engineering colleges, which have been struggling to fill up their seats for the past few years.