AP: Engineering admission process begins amid stir
The certificate verification for EAMCET engineering counselling began amid protests by student organisations which demanded implementation of a uniform fee of Rs 35,000 for all colleges. Student protesters staged a sit-in and attempted to disrupt the morning session of the counselling at the Sanketika Vidya Bhavan, Masab Tank which serves as the office of the EAMCET camp-officer. The students demanded fixation of Rs 35,000 fee for all colleges with a provision to hike the fee for individual colleges after due inspection and audit of accounts of the colleges.
Police personnel were deployed at the centre to prevent further disruption. Minor incidents were also reported from the AV College of Arts Science and Commerce at Domalguda and the Quli Qutub Shah Government Polytechnic at Chandulal Baradari at Bahadurpura due to inadequate arrangements and power disruptions.
Students who got ranks from 1 to 15,000 were asked to attend the verification on Monday of which close to 9,000 students attended the session across 53 centres in the state. Around one-third of those eligible for counselling stayed away as the top rankers either opted for national- level competitive examinations or have taken admissions in deemed universities and colleges in other states due to the delay in admission process in AP.
The hike in fee awarded to 67 engineering colleges as per the government order issued on Saturday also left many candidates disappointed as they couldn’t afford the high fee and had to ‘settle’ for low-ranking colleges with a fee structure of Rs 35,000. “My daughter secured around 8000 rank and wanted to get into CBIT. Since the fee is 1.05 lakh per annum and only part of it will be reimbursed, we cannot afford to bear the additional burden,” said P S Reddy who accompanied his daughter for the counselling.
Parents also voiced their anger at the delay in uploading the list of colleges and fee structure. “It should be done well ahead of the certificate verification. We will have short time to decide on the right college before the online counselling begins on August 30,” said S Santhosh who was accompanying his brother.