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State to cap seats in CS, related engg disciplines
Karnataka plans to limit computer science engineering admissions to prevent future graduate unemployment, addressing disparities between private and government institutions.
The Karnataka government is preparing to limit admissions in computer science and related engineering courses, warning that an unchecked expansion of these programmes could leave large numbers of graduates without jobs in the coming years.
Speaking in the Legislative Council on Tuesday, Higher Education Minister M C Sudhakar said computer science streams now dominate engineering education in the state. Of the 1.53 lakh engineering seats available annually, 99,707 are in computer science and allied subjects, accounting for more than 64 % of the total. “There is a bigger problem awaiting us in the future, and it will be unemployment of engineering graduates,” he said.
Sudhakar told the House that he had written to the All India Council for Technical Education seeking regulation of intake in these streams. While the national regulator said it could not impose limits directly, it allowed the state government to step in. “We have decided to restrict the number of seats, including for computer science,” the minister said, adding that a similar move by the Telangana government had been upheld by both the high court and the Supreme Court.
Concerns were also raised by BJP members in the Council, who pointed to sharp imbalances between private and government institutions. BJP MLC Dhananjaya Sarji said private universities were overwhelmingly focused on computer science courses. “If you see private universities, 90 % of the courses offered are related to computer sciences or related streams,” he said, citing one university with 4,320 engineering seats, of which 4,020 were allocated to computer science. In contrast, he noted, government colleges devote only about 10 % of their intake to these subjects.
Sudhakar acknowledged the disparity and said the state would move to rationalise seat distribution across disciplines. He also disclosed that notices had been issued to PES University and Alliance University for increasing student intake and starting new courses without government approval. Karnataka has 22 private universities, he said.
The expansion of newer engineering programmes has accelerated in recent years, with private institutions offering courses in artificial intelligence, robotics and machine learning, areas that were considered unconventional until recently. At the same time, several colleges have reduced or discontinued programmes such as mechanical, civil and automobile engineering because of falling demand.
Karnataka has 229 engineering colleges, only 27 of which are government run. Together, public and private institutions offer around 1.5 lakh engineering seats each year. Government colleges account for just 6,495 seats, while private universities alone offer about 33,000.
Sarji also questioned whether private universities had the faculty strength to support such large intakes. Applying the government norm of one assistant professor for every 20 students, he said the cited university would require 864 assistant professors, 192 associate professors and 96 professors. “This imbalance is unfair to students in government colleges; it must be resolved immediately,” he said.
