College management worries over a huge number of vacant seats in engineering colleges are leading to new ideas like admitting students from other States, particularly from Orissa, Bihar, Chattisgarh and the North East.

Managements are desperate to fill up the seats as colleges have become economically unviable with few admissions and they are planning to approach the Government with a request to allow some percentage of the left over seats to be offered to students from other states. With 243 colleges receiving less than 100 admissions their very survival is at stake now.

In fact, this idea was floated last year itself when colleges proposed to throw open the B.Tech seats to outside students. However, it didn’t take off for several reasons including the peculiar local and non-local quota admissions. Candidates from other States are allowed only in the five per cent national integration quota. The last-minute efforts of college managements also did not cut ice with the Government.

College managements argue that A.P. has a positive impression among students from other States given its IT image as well as the performance of its students in the national level examinations.

“The thriving IT sector in AP is in fact a major reason apart from lack of seats in some North and Eastern States. We should take advantage of it,” representative of a college said.

Correspondents feel admitting other students will help the State students as they can learn in a multi-cultural environment.

Some colleges are already admitting students in the management quota from Jharkhand and Bihar in B.Tech courses with aggressive marketing. “The Deemed Universities in the State and neighbouring States are full of students from the North and that can be replicated successfully in our private colleges too,” says correspondent of a minority college.

The idea is likely to reduce pressure on the Government for increasing the fee every year, suggests the principal of a college. A financially healthy private college will not be a burden on the Government. As of now majority private colleges are looking at the fee Reimbursement as their saviour.