From ₹1.5 lakh a month to ₹500 a day: Telangana's engineering crisis hits faculty hard

A steep decline in core engineering seats in Telangana has forced many faculty members into unexpected and often grueling jobs. Since 2020, more than 70% of seats in traditional engineering disciplines have vanished, a shift that has had a profound impact on senior professors, many of whom now find themselves delivering food and running street stalls to make a living.

The focus of engineering education in the state has dramatically shifted. Of the 86,943 total engineering seats available, 61,587 are now allocated to computer science and its related fields. Meanwhile, core branches like civil and mechanical engineering offer just 7,458 seats combined, and electrical and electronics engineering contributes a mere 4,751 seats. With roughly 25% of these seats left unfilled annually, the emphasis on tech-driven courses continues to reshape the academic landscape. In response, many of Telangana’s 175 Bachelor of Technology (BTech) colleges have reduced core engineering seat allocations by up to 75%, making room for courses in artificial intelligence, data science, and cybersecurity.

For faculty members, the fallout has been devastating. Once earning between Rs 40,000 and Rs 1.5 lakh a month as respected educators, they now scrape by on Rs 500 to Rs 1,000 daily. Achyuth V, a former mechanical engineering professor, was quoted as saying in a Times of India report. “I quit when I was asked to take a 50% pay cut on my already reduced salary,” he said. Now, he works as a delivery driver and two-wheeler taxi operator, making around Rs 600 a day. Job opportunities in his field have dried up. “Many colleges either did away with mechanical engineering as a branch or reduced the number of seats to hardly 30,” he added, emphasizing the drastic reduction in demand.

While some former professors manage as freelance tutors or outsourcing employees, many continue to face long-term unemployment, even two years after their sudden layoffs.

The crisis has drawn attention from industry associations. D Srinivas Varma, general secretary of the Telangana Technical Institution Employees Association, described the dire situation for experienced faculty. “Faculty in their forties and fifties, with years of experience, are finding it nearly impossible to secure positions as neither academia nor the industry shows interest in hiring them,” he said.

The state government is beginning to respond. A technical education department official announced measures aimed at restoring balance. “This year, we restricted colleges from increasing computer science and engineering seats at the expense of core engineering. Moving forward, we’ll implement stricter intake caps and maintain a balanced approach,” the official was quoted in the report.