Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Telangana have written to the All India Council for Technical Education – the regulatory body for higher technical education in India – asking it to not allow new engineering colleges to set up in their states, The Indian Express reported.

The letters were sent because every year, several seats in technical colleges remain vacant. The states also asked AICTE to temporarily ban institutes from expanding.

Council Chairman Anil Sahasrabudhe said AICTE had accepted the suggestions made by Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Telangana, but has asked the other two states to support their requests with reasons and a plan. “Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh simply asked us to not permit any new institutes,” Sahasrabudhe told The Indian Express. “This isn’t good enough.”

A three-month-long investigation by the newspaper found that Haryana had the highest number of vacant engineering seats in 2016-’17. The report said engineering seats were going unfilled primarily because infrastructure and faculty at most colleges were poor, and placements were low.