Engineering students with low JEE Main ranks, English medium background are filling up Hindi BTech seats

NEW DELHI: Overall, enrolment in BTech programmes in regional languages has risen since the initiative was introduced in 2021, but that’s only one part of the story. Not only is the growth largely limited to one combination of language and programme – the BTech in Computer Science in Hindi – many of the seats have in fact been claimed by applicants from English-medium schools who have low ranks on the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Main.

In fact, Hindi has the highest number of takers. In many other languages, the initiative has faltered. Intended to expand access to engineering education, the total enrolment in the courses has never touched even 1,000 in any of the four years even as the seats grew from 1,170 to 1,680.

In Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, most institutions offering BTech in Hindi have opted to do it for the CSE branch. “We have received enrollments beyond approved intake from 2023 onwards because all these regional language courses are in computer science (CS) and students are running after it,” said Rajesh Prasad, in charge of CSE Hindi at Ajay Kumar Garg Engineering College, Ghaziabad. The institute admitted 54 students to the programme in 2022; that number rose to 70-75 for later batches.

However, in some states, such as West Bengal, the experiment is failing with very few admissions in BTech in Bengali. An official from Technique Polytechnic Institute, Hooghly, told Careers360 that they discontinued their programme, not finding any takers for it.

With a handful of new engineering colleges getting approved every year, 93 are currently offering BTech in regional language. From 2021-22 to 2024-25, the overall admission rate rose from 21% to 52% The enrollment rose over the years till 2023-24, when it was at its highest, before falling slightly in 2024-25.

BTech in regional languages: Enrolment

Of all states, Uttar Pradesh (UP) has had the highest enrollment since 2021, with a massive 568% increase from 58 in 2021-2022, to 388 in 2023-24. That said, UP is also India’s most populous state. Andhra Pradesh saw a 477% increase; Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu’s admissions also rose. Before this nationwide push for regional-language BTechs, TN was likely the only state with a policy for Tamil BTech, offered at Anna University. Enrolments have been lowest in Haryana and Uttarakhand since 2021, with zero in Gujarat and Kerala.

Total enrolment in regional-language BTech by state

TG Sitharam, chairman, All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE), told Careers360 in a separate interview: “Hindi is popular. Some regional languages like Tamil are okay. Gujarati and Kannada are having trouble in finding students.”

Low JEE Main rank, English-medium board

While the policy is aimed at helping graduates of vernacular-medium schools study engineering, many of the seats have actually gone to students from English-medium schools but with low scores on the JEE.

A third-year student of BTech in CSE Hindi at Poornima Institute of Engineering and Technology (PIET) Jaipur, who did not want to be named, said that 60% of students in the programme are from English-medium schools. “My main focus wasn’t to get into Hindi courses but to get into the computer science branch,” they said. “Also, because for the first year, in 2021-22, the course was new and wasn’t popular like other traditional engineering branches, the seats were empty. However, in the subsequent years, students with lower JEE ranks interested in CS were given CSE in the Hindi course.”

Anil Kumarr, head of the department of Computer Science Engineering (Hindi) at PIET Jaipur confirmed this – students with low JEE Main ranks but interested in CS are enrolled in its BTech CSE Hindi. He also confirmed that a majority of students had been schooled in English-medium which is now cause for “major concern”. “75-80% of students in CSE Hindi are from English medium and don't want to study in Hindi,” he said. PIET Jaipur had no enrolment in 2021 but since then, has filled all 60 seats every year.

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That said, the experience of enrolments in individual colleges has varied. Anu Chaudhary, head of the department of computer science and engineering, Ajay Kumar Garg Engineering College, Ghaziabad said: “While there are some students from the CBSE board in BTech CSE Hindi course, many students who do not get a core CSE branch have taken admission in the CSE Hindi. Overall ranking is not good for this course. Students who don't have any other option get into this course, not because they are not able to understand English. This is the only reason enrolments are high for these courses.”

Ajay Kumar Garg Engineering College, Ghaziabad, teaches only in English, even the BTech in Hindi. Prasad said, “Everything, including content, is the same for CSE and CSE Hindi. Examination papers and teachers are the same. It's a known fact that no one can write in Hindi. However, there is an option for students to write in Hindi but only one to two students do so.” Also, CSE Hindi students have scored highest in the institute, he added.

However, in Tamil Nadu, the situation is different. V Venkatachalam, principal, Erode Sengunthar Engineering College, Thudupathi, Tamil Nadu said that 98% of students in their mechanical engineering Tamil batch are from Tamil-medium schools. “We have students in this batch from rural areas and cities, but most are from Tamil-medium schools,” he added.

BTech: Teaching, curriculum, performance

Books are available in both Hindi and English and teaching is bilingual. “BTech Hindi books are bilingual and are available in the library. In class, we are taught in both English and Hindi. Many students in the batch also chose the course due to bilingual opportunities as a few came from Hindi medium. Examination papers are set in both English and Hindi. If someone is struggling in English, they can choose to write in Hindi as well,” said the PIET Jaipur student.

Kumarr explained, “Whenever students are not able to understand in English, teachers explain in Hindi and vice versa. Many times students are not aware of many coding languages so our library has both English and Hindi books. Also, the examination paper is in both Hindi and English language.”

Dinesh Goyal, director, PIET stated that they deliberately hired teachers who know Hindi and have taught in polytechnics. “Initially trust among students about this course was low, especially with regard to quality, as the quality of the CSE core course is higher than the regional-language version. So, we had to put effort into students' grooming, and confidence-building through focused activities. We had discussions with experts, both in-house and outside, on how to run BTech in a regional language.”

The lack of translated materials, books and software is also a hurdle in the path of full-fledged teaching in Hindi. “The course is mostly taught in English as we are facing issues,” said Anu Chaudhary. “Just saying we run the course in Hindi is not sufficient, a lot of preparation is required. You cannot develop software in Hindi. It's not possible to conduct the classes totally in Hindi. We are not capable enough, so far, to develop our content in Hindi.”

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Engineering placements: BTech CSE in Hindi, Tamil

At Kumarr’s institute, the majority of students from the Hindi section have been placed in internships through a programme that requires the companies themselves to remain on campus for 45 days. “Our target is that all regional language BTech students get the best of knowledge and placements,” he said.

For BTech CSE in Tamil, Venkatachalam stated that 100% of students of the first batch have been placed. “Students in this batch are going for manufacturing industries. And even companies are not differentiating between Tamil and English-medium students. There isn’t much difference in job opportunities,” he said.

He further stated, “For the past three or four years, all students have been preferring computer science. Mechanical engineering courses in Tamil are taken less in Tamil Nadu. We expect the trend to change in the next two to three years where core branches will pick up.” He is optimistic that eventually, there won't be much difference in English, Tamil or any other regional-language engineering programme.