JEC is not a waste, not by a long shot. I agree it might be not good as one expects it to be. Let’s discuss JEC in terms of Infrastructure, Academics, Atmosphere, Placements.

• Infrastructure : JEC is quite good in this aspect, you will find each department has its own building along with the required labs. However, to what extent these labs are beneficial is debatable :P
• Academics : There is not much difference between RGPV and JEC’s syllabus, though JEC is autonomous but still you will find the course is almost same. In each of the department there are ample of senior faculties, but during my 4 years we were taught most of the subjects by ad hoc faculties with the exception of 1–2 subjects atmost.
• Atmosphere : Now this might be subjective, because it largely depends on the respective batch, but from my experience you won’t find a study oriented atmosphere in JEC, you will have to toil to gain knowledge. Do not assume good grades = knowledge, not always true, but always fetch as much as you can.
• Placements : JEC has good record, placement wise, although 95% of the companies offer 3–3.5lpa. Your branch will not matter much, most service IT companies allow all the branches to sit in their aptitude exam provided you clear their 10th-12th-CGPA criteria with no active backlog.

If you are looking for a job after graduation you should take JEC, if you plan to do a post graduation after your bachelor degree, then you should do some research like can you prepare for your pre-PG exam in Jabalpur, if YES then go for JEC, if not then look for the alternative in Bhopal or Indore.

In hacer earth college ranking too, JEC has a higher rank

https://www.hackerearth.com/college-ranking/