Bhopal : Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said that engineering colleges in the state should be shut as large number of engineering pass-outs fail to get jobs.
Singh said that the mushrooming of engineering colleges in India has led to lakhs of people who have engineering degrees but wait in queues for a peon’s job. He was speaking at a programme on skill development for the youth in Bhopal.
“What’s the use of such engineering colleges when youngsters who pass out remain unemployed?”, he asked.
“I suggest (college owners) that shut engineering colleges and instead open industrial training institutes (ITIs), you would be more successful,” he said.
The chief minister said people with technical training like that of a motor mechanic could get a job more easily than someone with mere bookish knowledge.
His statements have drawn sharp criticism from the Opposition. They have condemned Singh’s comments saying it showed lack of vision.
Bhopal has more than 100 private engineering colleges. The city has emerged as an educational hub in the region in the last two decades because of these colleges.
Senior Congress leader Ajay Singh said that it was because of these engineering colleges that students from rural areas and even from areas outside the state come to study.
“The Vyapam scam has already affected an entire generation of youths. The situation of government schools in Madhya Pradesh is pathetic. Now, the CM wants engineering colleges shut. This shows how the BJP government wants to destroy the education system in MP,” said Singh, who is the leader of Opposition in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly.
Chouhan was speaking during the launch of the ‘Rozgar Ki Padhai – Chalein ITI” campaign in Bhopal on late Thursday evening.
He said that the government, in the future, would focus on skill development and seats would be increased in ITIs across Madhya Pradesh. He said that introduction of new courses at these industrial training institutes would ensure that youngsters could acquire skills that made them employable.
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