The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : How many seats will the private engineering colleges surrender?

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Apr 13, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

How many seats will the private engineering colleges surrender?

V.Jayanth

Deadline approaches, but questions remain unanswered

CHENNAI: Anna University has asked the private self-financing engineering colleges to let it know how many seats they will "surrender" to the government pool this year for admissions through the Single Window System (SWS). The deadline is Friday. Though a majority of the 240-odd colleges are willing to "surrender" at least 30 per cent of their seats, they want some clarifications on the admission procedure and the fee structure for 2006-07.

With on-line registration for the Tamil Nadu Professional Courses Entrance Examinations (TNPCEE)-2006 beginning on Wednesday, both Anna University and students seeking admission need to know the number of seats on offer. Last year, 1.68 lakh students took the TNPCEE, competing for the 42,000-odd seats. All colleges in the State have over 70,000 seats, with the rest coming under the "management quota."

Students and parents alike are a worried lot this year, with dark clouds looming over some of the deemed universities over the issue of recognition for their degrees. As such, the number of students taking the TNPCEE may be the same as or even higher than last year, according to present indications. Which is why, the total pool of seats available under the Single Window System assumes importance. "If it is going to be lower than last year, it becomes more difficult for the students," reasons a senior officer associated with the Tamil Nadu Engineering Admissions (TNEA). He suggests that all colleges can go by the TNPCEE instead of holding another CET.

Private self-financing colleges in the southern and western regions appear more willing to give up the same number of seats as last year. But those in and around Chennai want to keep a larger share of seats under the management quota. Before they take a decision, they seek a few clarifications from the Government and the admission agency - Anna University's TNEA.

Two of the key issues these colleges have raised relate to the admission procedure for the management quota and the fee structure. "If the Government and its agency can offer some flexibility in the admission process and the fee structure for the management quota seats, we are ready to surrender 50 per cent of the seats. Some of the colleges may even go up to 70 per cent," says the chairman of one of the colleges in the suburb of Chennai.

Government officials remain tight-lipped. All they say is that they will have another meeting with the private colleges and discuss all issues. But TNEA officers say the Supreme Court orders are "very clear." All admissions, including those under the management quota, should be through the Single Window System.

On the fee structure, they say the Raman Committee is seized of the matter and should be able to announce the structure before long. A compromise formula some of the private college managements have proposed is that the 15 per cent quota for NRIs and 5 per cent for students from other States can be left "entirely to the discretion of the colleges." And if they are not able to fill those seats with just NRI and other State students, they should be able to admit local students "with freedom."

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