The proliferation of engineering colleges in the country without the requisite facilities and competent faculty is a matter of concern, as hardly 12 per cent of engineering graduates are found readily employable, according to E. Sreedharan, the former managing director of the Delhi Metro.

He was delivering a lecture here on Monday morning after being conferred a honorary doctorate by the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (Kakinada) at the convocation. Sreedharan, a former student of the Kakinada engineering college, obtained a degree in civil engineering in the fifties and later distinguished himself in executing various projects such as the Konkan Railway and the Delhi Metro. He quit the Delhi Metro in December, 2011. The Kakinda engineering college was subsequently upgraded into a university.

Sreedharan said that in Andhra Pradesh alone there were more than 600 engineering colleges and most of them did not have the requisite facilities or trained faculty members. He said a survey conducted by the English weekly, The Week , had shown that only 12 per cent of engineering graduates were readily employable, 52 per cent could be absorbed after training and the remaining were hopeless. He said corrective steps should be taken immediately to improve standards. He urged JNTU-K not to give accreditation to such colleges.

He exhorted engineering students to maintain probity in profession and they should “never dilute standards and specifications in connivance with contractors in executing projects. If integrity is lost, everything is lost.”

Further, engineering students should regard education as a life-long pursuit and they should keep themselves abreast of all the latest developments in the field.

Sreedharan also laid emphasis on maintaining good health, citing the example of Mokshagundam Visveswarayya, who lived to the age of 102 in perfect health. JNTU (K) Vice-Chancellor G. Tulasi Ram Das said that it was a matter of great pride for the university to honour a former student with such great accomplishments.

He exhorted students to emulate Sreedharan and contribute to nation-building. He said the university would introduce new courses and strive to uphold standards, as suggested by Sreedharan.

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