Staring at the possibility of thousands of seats going vacant and facing imminent closure under All Indian Council for Technical Education ( AICTE ) norms, private engineering colleges are now offering all kinds of lures to attract students. From fees as low as Rs 2,500 per year to offers of free laptops and two-wheelers, colleges are now adopting new marketing strategies to woo students.According to a data released by the AICTE, out of 15.5 lakh engineering courses seats in 3,291 engineering colleges across the country, over 50 per cent remained vacant in 2016-17. In 2015-16, too, half of 14.76 lakh engineering seats had no takers.As per an Ahmedabad Mirror report, this year, at the end of round 1 admissions process in Gujarat colleges, as many as 34,642 seats out of 55,422 have remained vacant. To counter this situation, colleges are offering several discounts including reduced fees in the name of scholarship, complete waiver of first semester fee, free laptops, half transportation and hostel fee and two-wheelers at the end of four-year course to those who pay entire course fee by single payment.Desperate to get admissions, an institute in Gujarat is offering fee as low as Rs 2,500 per year, while another college has hired commission agents to bring students. According to Mirror report, the college is paying agents a commission of Rs 10,000 for every student they bring in for admission.After several years of boom, engineering education in the country is fast losing its sheen. Last year, a study by an employability assessment company claimed that 95 per cent of engineers in the country were not fit for jobs.Industry veterans have also warned about unskilled Indian youth. Recently, CP Gurnani, CEO & MD of Tech Mahindra said that 94 per cent of engineering graduated were not fit for hiring, while chairman of Manipal Global Education, TV Mohandas Pai claimed that the country has 10 crore people in the 21-35 age-group with bad skills, who are unsuited for the economy.