The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : New directive on single window system puzzling

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jun 07, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

New directive on single window system puzzling

By K. Ramachandran

CHENNAI, JUNE 6. Managements of engineering colleges are a confused lot.

Three days ago, the Anna University Vice-Chancellor, E. Balagurusamy, announced that all admissions to management quota seats in engineering colleges should also be done through a single window system. This has given rise to several questions from the side of college managements, especially those which admitted students to the first year B.E/B.Tech courses on the basis of

the students' combined scored in the Plus Two and the Tamil Nadu Professional Courses Entrance Examinations (TNPCEE).

Enquiries with college managements in Chennai, Tiruvallur, Salem, Erode, Coimbatore and Namakkal show that some have completed admissions on the basis of norms issued by the Vice- Chancellor in his May 20, 2004 letter. The signed letter from Prof. Balagurusamy pertaining to admission in unaided affiliated engineering colleges under the management quota from 2004-05 gave the following guidelines: 1. The management shall call for applications from eligible candidates. The eligibility for admission is as prescribed by the State government. 2. Admissions will be based on the merit list prepared among the candidates who apply. 3. The merit list should be prepared taking into account the marks scored in the TNPCEE, the All-India Engineering Entrance Examinations 2004, or the Common Entrance Test (CET) approved by the Permanent Committee for conduct of entrance examinations...constituted by the State Government. If it is found that any student has been admitted `de hors merit', a penalty will be imposed on that institute and in appropriate cases recognition/affiliation may also be withdrawn. 4. The government's reservation policy should be strictly followed. 5. The minority colleges are entitled to fill up their quota with their own students on the basis of inter-se merit among the students. 6. Other-State candidates should be considered under Open Category (OC) only. 7. After completion of admission, the principals have to send the details of candidates applied, their ranks along with marks,

examination considered, community, etc., and the list of candidates selected to the DOTE, and Anna University for approval. 8. The approval of admission will be subject to not only AICTE approval and affiliation by the university for the courses for 2004-05, but also to strict adherence to the above guidelines. Managements of several colleges say they followed these guidelines fully and completed the admission by June first week. They note that the sudden announcement by the Vice-Chancellor that after conducting a CET by the Consortium of Professional Colleges, the colleges should admit students under a single window system (as is done in the case of the TN Engineering Admissions for government quota seats), is puzzling.

The managements say that they issued advertisements that they would fill the management quota seats also on the basis of the TNPCEE/AIEEE scores. Now, they wonder which guideline must be followed and what would be fate of students already admitted.

The SC judgment

The colleges note that though the Supreme Court (in the Islamic Academy of Education) judgment clearly stated that inter-se merit had to be followed, there was no mention of a single window admission after the conduct of the CET. The permanent committee too was formed on the Supreme Court's orders for the conduct of a CET for management quota seats and not for admissions.

The relevant portion of the judgment is: We thus hold that the management could select students, for their quota, either on the basis of the CET to be conducted by an association of all colleges of a particular type in that State, e.g. medical, engineering or technical, etc. The CET held by the association, must be the basis of admission to all colleges of that type in that State. The option of choosing, between either of these tests, must be exercised before issue of prospectus and after intimation to the authority concerned and the committee set up hereinafter. If any college chooses not to admit on the basis of the CET conducted by the association, that college must necessarily admit on the basis of the CET conducted by the State. After holding the CET, and declaration of results, the merit list will immediately be placed on the noticeboard of all colleges, which have chosen to admit as per this test. A copy of the merit list will also be sent to the authority concerned and the committee. Selection must then be strictly on the basis of merit as per that merit list. "The list of students admitted, along with the rank number obtained by the students, the fees collected and all such particulars and details as may be required by the concerned authority or the committee must be submitted to them..."

On the powers of the permanent committee (which in Tamil Nadu is headed by retired High Court judge S.S. Subramani), the Supreme Court stated that it would have the authority to oversee the tests conducted by the association, including the power to call for the proposed question paper(s), to know the names of paper setters and examiners and to check the method adopted to ensure that papers are not leaked. "The committee shall supervise and ensure that the test is conducted in a fair and transparent manner."

All these directions, the five-member Bench itself said, was made under its law making powers under Article 142 of the Constitution, which should remain in force till appropriate legislation is enacted by Parliament. However, from the officials' side the argument is that some colleges, which say they have completed admissions, have also expressed their willingness to join the consortium and in the CET process. Also, they wonder whether the claims of the colleges about having followed all the guidelines were credible.

The Vice-Chancellor's argument is all eligible students should be given a chance to get into a college or branch of their choice from the available pool of management quota seats. But what remains puzzling is that the Vice-Chancellor, who is part of the permanent committee, chose to write the May 20 letter to college heads, when the committee was finalising norms for holding the CET.

Students and parents on their side complain that the process of evolving norms and guidelines should have been completed well before the admission season so that they could have decided on the type of CET to take for seeking/getting admission to the college of their choice.

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