The Hindu Business Line : Some say Budget is `different', but others are indifferent

Story so far: A visit to an engineering college campus brings me face to face with two things — one, the rush of aspirants for the courses, and two, a feeling of blankness about what the future held as promise for qualified engineers.

Episode 85

BEING an accountant, I knew it smacked of professional jealousy when I posed that question last week, "Are there more engineers than required?" Which is what some of my friends felt when asking me, "Why, they can ask too, if there are just too many CAs!" I had to respond, "But we don't go through college admission for CA."

Well, for the query, "Do we need these many engineers?" there are many interesting responses in the mailbox. "Hi Swati, I think you raised a very good question," writes S. Balaji Venkatesh of Human Capital Professional, NJ, US. "The answer is pretty simple. Yes, we need more engineers." How? "Let's look at the global picture. Changes in the demographics of the developed world clearly point to the fact that they are going to face shortage of employable labour as early as 2010. If the developed world has to make up for this shortage, then they need to get people from developing countries only! (For info on this refer to Peter Drucker's article titled The Next Society in The Economist).

"This is a huge opportunity for India. Again you need to realise that the need for personnel in developed countries is more for high-end (read professional) skills than for generic skills (as in the Gulf). That said, the demand for engineers is only going to increase and not decrease, from a global perspective.

"I think parents need to look at this question from a broader perspective than looking at the immediate job opportunities available today in India or in Indian companies such as Infosys, Wipro, Polaris and so on." Good analysis. It looks as if we made a mistake choosing CA rather than engineering!

"Hi Swati," writes Priya. "Whether we need so many engineers or not should be answered by the parents. It is a status quo for them to have their sons and daughters as engineers. They do not mind paying any amount to fulfil their dreams (even if the student has scored less marks!) Numbers do not really matter.

"At present, all roads lead to one destination: `software'. Every engineer wants to become a software pro. Believe me, I've have come across lot of engineers who are in the metallurgy, mechanical, civil and such lines, but working with software cos. Isn't this contradictory? Core problem lies with educational institutions; they need to set up an `in-house coordinator' who should give the students much-needed awareness about their field, every semester. Likewise `entrepreneurship skills' should be developed. It should even be a part of the curriculum.

"When I was in my final year of grad, there were only a handful of students who desired to pursue higher studies with clarity. There were no seminars/workshops to address the thoughts of the students and highlight on the various options in the field. All they (lecturers) wanted to do was to finish the syllabus. There are definitely various avenues unexplored other than the engineering profession. It can be done only by the cooperation of the parents, inputs from the faculty and of course the interest of the students.

"At this point I would like to appreciate my brother who in spite of having good marks got the engineering seat only through the `payment category' but declined and pursued his lakshya — to serve the Indian Army. He is now serving as a Captain in the Armed Forces." I think, one day, I'd get a mail from the Captain too!

"Dear Swati," writes M. Radhakrishnan, a CA serving in industry. "Well, we CAs, doctors, lawyers, and so on, create wealth for ourselves unlike engineers, who apart from creating wealth for themselves create wealth for the nation. To build infrastructure, we need engineers. After the advent of software industry, importance for other disciplines such as civil, electrical, and mechanical has come down.

"Further, the aim of most engineers is to write GRE and go abroad, mainly the US for further study and get settled there. To take advantage of this scenario many engineering colleges have sprung up; they make money under the guise of `trust'. So, we need, not only more engineers but quality engineers. Further, engineers have the capacity to turn into entrepreneurs and generate employment. Government should improve facilities available at the institutes to produce quality engineers."

"Dear Swati, actually we need more engineers than arts and science graduates," writes in M. Thanga Velu. "After government jobs shrunk, arts and science have lost their importance. At the same time, the manufacturing sector has expanded to cater to expansion of population and to export; this resulted in a demand for engineers. Unfortunately, there were very few government institutions to meet the challenge. Which is when, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka allowed privately managed technical colleges, resulting in a glut of engineering seats. Students who do not have any alternative branch of studies grabbed the opportunity, and that continues even today. At least they may get employment in the new industries, which are coming up.

"Even an unemployed engineer, in society, is respected more than an arts graduate. Look at the alternative: to get a medical seat you must score at least 98 to 99.9 per cent in +2 exams; impossible for above average students also. On CA, less said the better; to get a CA one must spend a minimum of three years after graduation (normally, for BE, four years is enough). Then he/she will not be sure of passing the exams in the first attempt, since the Institute pegs the average pass percentage at 12-15. Moreover, if the person is from rural areas, his English may not be good. (You can write CA exams in Hindi and English, not in any other national languages. Is the policy not fundamentally wrong and against our Constitution? Why has nobody challenged the discriminative policy in the court?)

"The only alternative is engineering. Even though the future is bleak, still there is a ray of hope once the economy picks up. Even IT sector recruits more engineers. Definitely it is better to study engineering rather than waste your time in other courses, especially if you are from a rural area. It is the safe bet at present." Optimistic.

"Swati, the short answer to the question is YES," writes M. B. Gowrishankar of Riverstone Networks Inc, Santa Clara, US. "But, should we have more engineering colleges because some developed country (US) needs more cheap labour? Engineering education, especially computer/ electronics related, is much sought after by students and parents because they feel they could land a job in the US in some foreseeable future.

"Doesn't India need more engineers itself?" Never thought about that! "I believe the answer is yes. There is an awful lot of engineering work that needs to be done in India, starting from roads, railways and all the way to hi-tech satellites. Then why are so many engineers unemployed in India?

"I feel the government should first plan a career for each and every engineering student. For that matter all students pursuing any higher education should have a promised career (read job). If the government/ industry can't promise a job to an engineering student, there is no point in students pursuing engineering education, nor is there any point in studying in a sub-standard engineering college with ill-equipped labs and lecturers. "The amount of money spent on a four-year engineering education, which includes labs, lecturers and high tuition fees, is literally wasted. Engineers need to be "real" good engineers. Each seat in an engineering college should be based on an existing vacancy in either a government sector or a private sector, somewhat similar to how our IAS officers are selected.

"Running engineering colleges as business establishments should be stopped immediately. Engineering seat vacancy should be need-based, and should be strictly monitored by the Government. And students and parents should do an internal assessment of themselves to see if they/their ward really qualifies to become an engineer. Just an entrance test and marks scored in +2 is not sufficient. There should be hands-on tests/projects that could demonstrate the engineering capabilities of a student." Useful insight.

"Why should everyone be in accounts or science," asks Kamal Anil Kapadia, a CA from Mumbai. "Engineering is an innovative and creative line, be it computer, chemical, civil, automobile and so on. Being a CA myself, I have an inclination of making my child an engineer in the field that he wishes to choose from.

"I think one should not hamper one's creativity in selecting the career by basing the decision entirely on the market mood or global job opportunities, because things can change overnight. Like in our field, CA, fall of Andersen and now Parmalat episode!" Wonder if engineers would support CAs likewise.

"Please, my dear engineering student friends, set aside all fears that there are too many engineers in the country," says Karthik Narayan. "There are ample opportunities in the engineering field. Earlier, engineering meant mechanical or civil mostly. With the advent of new age technology and emphasis on R&D by corporates, the horizon has opened up! There are so many avenues for a budding engineer student to choose from: Biotechnology, software, hardware, chemical, marine, aeronautics... The list is just endless. The mantra for life is if u want to do something, please do it full-fledged and wholeheartedly."

********

On Budget evening, I joined my CA friends for a video-conferencing with none other than the FM himself. We all asked questions and the Minister patiently responded.

At the end of the programme, it was not as if all of us had the same views about the Budget. One said, it was visionary; another accused the FM of giving us an inflationary Budget. And so on. What are your views on the latest Budget? Mail in by Friday.

Swati_CA@hotmail.com

For archived episodes of this column click on: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/nic/swati/index.htm

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