Why is Engineering the most preferred field by most Indians?

 Let's go back to 20 years back, the early 90's especially. At that time very few job options people had in India. Except for the engineering sector, all other sectors were almost no job vacancies. But if you have an engineering degree then you have better opportunities and you will end up in a good job with fatty salary offers. In short, supply was less and demand was more. At that time India was having a very less number of engineering seats. Apart from IITs, RECs(Now NITs), State level engineering colleges there were very few Private Engineering colleges in India and their infrastructure was not up to the mark. AICTE and the NBA were not present at that time to evaluate and give licenses to the private sector to start up engineering colleges. So it was always risky to join a private engineering college at that period.

Engineer's are always get paid good salaries and at that time being an engineering graduate was very respectful in society. In colonies, an Engineer's house was often considered a landmark. You may remember people saying" Wo engineer sahab ke makaan ke saamne aa jaana" during your childhood days. Moreover, the Engineer's salary was good and a good salary means more money and more money make you rich and thus uplift your status. I still remember how people use to compete with each other to get a seat in an Engineering college. Having an engineering student as a boyfriend was every girl's dream and at that time it was easy to woo a girl by saying that you are an engineering student or graduate. "Mohalle ka pyar Doctors, Engineers le jaate hain" you might have heard it in Ranjhana movie. :-). Every father was looking for an Engineering graduate as a groom for his daughter. :-). So every science student at least tried once or twice to get into an engineering college.
Come to the early 2000s. Thanks to TCS, Infosys, Wipro, Accenture, and other IT giants for the IT boom in India. Tremendous recruitment took place till 2008 due to high demand in the IT sector. Initial salary of 3.2 lakhs per annum was not a bad choice at all in comparison to other sectors where work stress is more and salary is less. In spite of any branch in engineering if you have 60% and good communication skills you are eligible for the IT industry. I have few friends who graduated in Textile engineering but never joined that sector now currently a manager in big IT companies. Being a software engineer is considered as very respected across the whole of India. Mean AICTE came into the picture and many private engineering colleges been opened to utilize like an opportunity.

After 2008, especially recession time. No more recruitment as there were very few outsourced projects for the Indian IT industry. People who were placed during the previous year through campus placement interviews are yet to receive their joining dates. The government sector came like a boon and many sectors such as banking, infrastructure, mining, etc created many employment opportunities and thus people moved to those sectors rapidly and make the competition tough again. Engineering graduates were preferred in the banks due to their technical knowledge about computers and working in high stressed conditions.

Current scenario.

IT companies recruit engineers but the initial job salary is the same as it was in 8 years back. There is no job security as people had seen the staff reduction during the recession period. Though people join the IT industry but don't continue for a longer time. They either try for PSU's or some business school to make their profile and future secure.

Conclusion:
Having an engineering degree shows that you are above normal graduate students. It is my personal opinion. You have gone through a tough phase and grilled nicely thus you can even take up challenges and perform better.

Your communication and technical skills are above than average though you have spent more time on playing counter strike and NFS :-) and watching several prison break and other English tv series episodes. Your mathematical and reasoning skills are better than others.
So you have more opportunities and advantages than a normal graduate. So why don't you would like to join an engineering course?

P.S. Now is an Engineering graduate is not a big deal. Even in your family normal graduates are less than engineering graduates.

You can even think to write a novel and make it the best seller. :P

Engineers are the builder of the Nation.

Cheers :-)

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