AICTE had earlier said that institutes with less than 30 % seats filled will be closed down.
The official said about 10 per cent of these institutes are government-run, and the rest are privately-owned.
“We have given them three years’ time to get their act together. If after three years, they do not fill the seats sufficiently, we will be force to close them down,” AICTE Member Secretary Alok Mittal told IANS.
AICTE Chairman Anil Sahasrabudhe had earlier said that institutes with less than 30 per cent seats filled will be closed down.
However, Mittal clarified that this is not going to happen immediately and the decision will not be imposed retrospectively.
“We have consulted with lawyers also… It would be unfair of us if we do not allow them a chance. Moreover, we may not close down the institutes completely but only those departments where vacancies remain high,” he said.
There were 37 lakh seats available last year across all 10,063 AICTE-approved institutions offering technical courses in management, architecture, engineering, hotel management and pharmacy, among others. The quantum of seats filled across institutes was pegged to be around 45-50 per cent of the total.
On the common admission test being mooted by the council, Mittal said the council is “trying to” to get all states on board test which is work on lines of NEET conducted for admission in medical colleges. He said most states have given their nod, except a few from the “south of the country”.
The test will be conducted by the National Testing Agency, which got cabinet approval last year.
