Kerala - Kochi   

Cusat to drop online application for CAT

KOCHI: The Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cusat) will not provide online application facility for the students from the State for its Common Admission Test (CAT) from this year. But online application submission facility will be provided for students from other States. Last year, all the students were required to apply online for CAT, conducted for admission to its B.Tech. and postgraduate programmes.

The move to drop the online application system in 2009 came following several complaints from students and parents who had faced technical difficulties in availing the facility last year.

Explaining that students from remote areas of the State had experienced technical hitches while applying online, Joy Job Kulavelil, convener of the Syndicate Committee on CAT, said that many were forced to seek the services of internet cafes for submitting applications. Students had to spend hours in cafes to fill up the online application, Dr. Kulavelil said.

Many students had pointed out that café owners had charged at least Rs.150 to avail of the online facility. Personnel at the internet cafés rendered their services to the candidates saying that they had the expertise to complete the process without any trouble. Some of the café owners had misused the situation by charging up to Rs.200 for submitting an online application.

Baby Chakrapani, member of the CAT committee, said that many students had faced problems in the scanning process during the online submission of applications. The photographs needed to be scanned to ensure the identity of the candidate.

Last year, candidates were told to log on to www.cusat.ac.in to submit the applications. They were also asked to take printouts of the confirmation page and paste their recent passport size photograph in the space provided.

Prof. Chakrapani said that students applying from outside the State needed to apply online this year also. The decision came based on reports that chances for impersonation during the test were higher outside States. The university had faced similar incidents in Bihar during the previous editions of CAT.

Dr. Kulavelil said that the decision not to provide online application facility for students from the State was temporary and the decision would be reviewed next year after proper studies.

CAT applications will be available through select counters of the State Bank of Travancore (SBT) this year.

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