Bhubaneswar, Jan. 19: The state government is contemplating to put a stop to mushrooming of private engineering colleges in the state.

“There will be no more engineering colleges, branches and seats for the next two to three years till the current crisis of vacancies is resolved and things are streamlined,” said state industry secretary T Ramachandru.

The state has 100 engineering colleges, of which 94 are run by private management. Out of a total seat strength of 37,839, nearly 18,000 seats are lying vacant this year. This is despite holding two joint entrance examinations conducted by the authorities to fill up the vacancies, according to official sources.

“We have around 23,000 students enrolled in engineering colleges against nearly 40,000 seats. Instead of opening more colleges, our major aim will be to ensure maximum enrolment,” said the industry secretary.

Ramachandru, however, said no final decision had been taken to impose a ban on setting up new engineering colleges. “The matter hasn’t been decided. It will be taken up by the government. It will be a comma and not a full stop,” said Ramachandru.

During this time gap, the state will make efforts to see that more students get enrolled in Plus II science stream. Only 30,000 students enrol into Plus II science stream every year and 15,000 turn up for joint entrance examination (JEE). At least 1 lakh students should take admission in Plus II science course if 40,000 engineering seats were to be filled, he said.

The industries department, which is the nodal department for technical education, has held discussions with the higher education department and the district collectors to help motivate students at matriculation level to go for Plus II science courses.

“All technical colleges should start contacting these students in all the districts without delay. The government can complement these efforts,” said the Ramachandru.

The state government will write to the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) to relax the eligibility criteria for admission into the technical streams. “We will ask the AICTE to relaxthe eligibility to 45 per cent from the existing 50 per cent and consider the marks of either matriculation or Standard XII, whichever is higher. This will increase the number of applicants,” he said.

The Orissa Private Engineering College Association (OPECA), however, opposed the move. “The field should be kept open. Why are you stopping small players when biggies such as Vedanta University, are being encouraged,” OPECA boss Binod Das said.