The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Scramble for seats in agricultural varsities

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Friday, Jun 12, 2009
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Scramble for seats in agricultural varsities

Laiqh A Khan

BANGALORE: The degree programmes offered by the Universities of Agricultural Sciences (UAS) in Bangalore and Dharwad, which lost their sheen in the wake of the Information Technology (IT) boom, are back in demand.

A large number of students are vying with each other for admission this year, and the cut-off percentage for the general merit category has gone up to 74 at UAS, Dharwad, compared to last year’s 38.

The number of applicants for degree programmes of UAS, Dharwad, went up from a mere 742 last year to 2,350 for the academic year 2009-10. The number of applications for the degree programmes went up considerably this year even though the number of seats on offer was almost halved as several disciplines had to be shifted to other universities, the Registrar of UAS, Dharwad, Vijaykumar, told The Hindu.

“We have to contend with a situation in which there are almost eight applicants for one seat,” he said.

The situation is no different in UAS, Bangalore. More than 3,500 students have obtained applications from the university, which has fixed June 22 as the last date for submission.

“The figure could cross 4,000 as applications will be issued till June 20,” Deputy Registrar of UAS, Bangalore, Chinnaswamy, said. UAS, Bangalore, which has 570 seats on offer, issued over 1,000 applications last year. Of them, 937 were submitted. The cut off percentage for general merit students, who managed to secure admission for courses in UAS, Bangalore, was just 37 last year.

“The response has been good this year and the cut-off percentage could also go up substantially,” the Vice-Chancellor of UAS, Bangalore, P.G. Chengappa, said.

The demand for degree programmes such as agriculture, horticulture, forestry, sericulture to agricultural biotechnology, food science and agricultural engineering offered by these universities has been attributed by academics to the slowdown in recruitment by various industries, particularly the IT sector, on account of recession.

The scramble for seats in the agricultural universities reminds the academics of the 90s era when the degree programmes were among the most sought after courses by bright students passing out of pre-university colleges or equivalent examinations.

The former Vice-Chancellor of UAS, Bangalore, Bisaliah, pointed out that the cut-off percentage for general merit students securing a seat in the agricultural universities used to be as high as 82 in the mid-nineties before the slump took place.

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