From live projects, documentation to viva training, there is
nothing engineering students can’t buy at Ameerpet’s `project
bazaar’ in Hyderabad.
For engineering students in Hyderabad, Ameerpet is a lot like the
Education Bazaar. The only difference being, students go shopping
for engineering projects there. This time of the year, the one
square kilometer stretch alongside Maitrivanam is teeming with
third and final year engineering students hunting for the best
deal on their mini and major projects, respectively.
We went to the `engineering project bazaar’ posing as engineering
students recently to find out that it really is the one-stop shop
for custommade engineering projects. Every building complex in the
locality has at least 10 different `shops’ with loud name boards
jostling for your attention. We walked into the office of one
swanky looking `engineering project consultant’ (that’s what they
all call themselves) office and were handed out an exhaustive menu
card listing out project ideas classified under various streams of
engineering -mechanical, computer science, information technology,
electronics and communication, civil… et al.
The rates range from `3,000 for simple simulation projects to
`50,000 for complicated working models of quad copters (a
multirotor helicopter that is lifted and propelled by four rotors)
and other such machines. “We can deliver whatever projects you
want even if they are not in the list. We will also train you for
viva,“ assured Suman*, who claimed to be a computer science
engineer.
When asked about the credibility of the certification given from
the institutes once the project is completed, the owner of another
institute assured us saying, “We are a registered company that
handles projects out-sourced from other companies. So if your
faculty calls us to verify your certificate, we’ll just tell them
that you worked on your project here; the fact that you bought it
will remain confidential.“
Apparently, some of these institutes are run by engineering
professors who direct students to these institutes. “The faculty
themselves refer students to us,“ added the owner.
These institutes hire B. Tech and M. Tech graduates who double up
as project managers during the project season. It’s quite a
lucrative opportunity, reckons Ashish*. “I make a lot of money
during this project season. It’s usually enough to last an entire
year depending on how many projects you can deliver. That’s much
more than what we’d get by teaching at an engineering college. It
also gives us free time to explore other profitable avenues,“ he
says.
That’s not all. Most M. Tech graduates who work here supplement
their income by going to understaffed engineering colleges posing
as faculty members during official inspections at these colleges.
“This gives us an opportunity to earn about `5,000 a day,“ adds
Ashish. #KhabarLive
