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BENGALURU: Karnataka is considering a freeze on the increase of computer science (CS) seats in engineering colleges across the state.

Higher education minister MC Sudhakar said the move is being weighed in the light of recent developments in Telangana, where a similar restriction has been upheld by the high court.Telangana high court recently dismissed a batch of writ petitions filed by private engineering colleges that had challenged the govt’s decision to reject proposals for increased CS intake for 2024–25 academic year. The court upheld the state’s authority to regulate engineering education.

“Several colleges (in Karnataka) are indiscriminately increasing computer science seats, often by converting civil and mechanical engineering seats — streams that are seeing reduced demand — into CS seats,” the minister said.“If this trend continues, we’ll have lakhs of engineering graduates from CS and related disciplines. Should the industry face a downturn, most of them could be left unemployed. We have to prevent that outcome or risk being blamed for our inaction,” the minister added.AICTE-relaxed norms reason for CS seat surgeThe number of CET seats in computer science and related programmes stood at around 24,000 in 2021-22 and rose to approximately 39,500 last year. In total, there were 79,907 CET seats across all disciplines last year. The seat matrix for 2025–26 is yet to be announced.This surge in CS seats has been attributed to relaxed norms from national regulatory body AICTE (All India Council for Technical Education). Colleges have been allowed to start or expand CS programmes with relative ease, including by converting seats from other disciplines. “We’re closely observing developments in Telangana. We’re reviewing the court judgment and the background before making a final call,” Sudhakar added.Last year, Karnataka wrote to AICTE requesting a cap on the increase in CS seats. However, the request was declined.“AICTE gave colleges two options — increase seats by meeting infrastructure and faculty norms or reallocate seats from other streams,” explained a Bengalurubased engineering college principal.“Riding the wave of demand for CS courses, colleges rushed to convert seats. Some autonomous colleges now have up to 1,000 seats in CS and allied fields. But with placements seeing a downturn this year, many institutions have decided not to expand further. Colleges are struggling to place students, and fear this could impact admissions as well,” he said.