With this, the number of seats in the State’s engineering colleges and institutes has gone up to 2,225 from 1,785. Quoting Education Minister Ripun Bora, official sources here said this evening that following the stress laid by the present Government in the State, a demand for raising the number of seats in both degree and diploma levels to about 20,000 in the State’s engineering colleges and institutes was placed before the Union Human Resources Development Minister at a meeting of the state education ministers at New Delhi on April 10 and 11 last.

The need for such a step was felt to enhance the capacity of the engineering colleges and institutes of the State to match the capacity of such institutions located in the rest of the country. The State has also adopted a legislation recently to facilitate setting up of private universities in the State with this aim in view, said the sources.

The Central Government has as the first step to grant the prayer of the State, approved the above 440 seats and of these, 60 will be created in the Assam Engineering College (chemical engineering-30, electronics and telecommunication-30).

Following this decision of the Central Government, Jorhat Engineering College will have 20 more seats (all in electrical engineering department) now and Azara-based private sector Girijananda Choudhury Institute of Management and Technology will have 120 seats (mechanical engineering- 60 and MBA-60).

In the diploma level, there will be 240 more seats due to this decision of the Central Government, said the sources.

(The Assam Tribune,10.07.2007)