A few years ago, IT was considered to be the most sought after stream among engineering students. Experts were then worried at the skill deficiency in core sectors, as students opted for IT and related fields. Even students from the core sectors had to take jobs in the IT sector because of the lesser jobs or high prospects in other streams.

The trend has taken a diametric turn now. Central Selection Commission chairman Salil Kumar Sanyal confirmed that seats of information communication courses are lying vacant in several colleges.

“In government engineering colleges, however, seats in the IT department are being taken up because fees in government colleges is lesser than the private ones,” said Sanyal.

Explaining the reason for moving away of the students from the IT, he said market fluctuations have made students skeptical and hence they are drawn to the core areas like mechanical, electrical and electronics.

Students at the counselling centres claimed that IT is not a priority this time. Some insist that the manufacturing sector will be the next big thing in the country, with steel plants and production units coming up across the country. A few other students are afraid that with the new US government placing a check on outsourcing, IT could be a tough stream to venture into.

Students’ fear is confirmed by the fact that while 48 seats for Electrical Engineering and Electronics and Communication engineering in the Narula Institute of Technology have been filled, whereas only 6 of 48 seats in IT stream have managed to get students.

Diptesh Chakraborty , secretary of West Bengal Government Engineering and Technical College Teachers Association, said that while the number of students flocking for IT has gone down but there is nothing to panic.