Abstract:
There has been a significant increase in the places for
undergraduate engineering degree programmes in the state. This has
happened over the last decade by licensing a number of privately owned
engineering colleges. Consequently, enrolments in engineering
increased from about 2800 in 1991 to about 28,000 in 2008. The study
analyses whether this increase in potential supply of engineers has
resulted in actual supply of engineers. In fact, after a careful analysis of
a unique data set the study reaches the conclusion that actual outturn
rates have been steadily declining and especially since 2004. This decline
is observed both at the aggregate level, across different branches and
across different colleges. It then hypothesises about the probable causes
for this steady decline in outturn rates and has identified this in terms of
two prominent causes. The study then concludes with the larger
implications of this state of affairs.
