state has no plans to do away with the existing norm for filling vacant engineering seats

Updated on: Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Despite sharp criticism, the state has no plans to do away with the existing norm of granting engineering admissions to HS science students with more than 45% in the aggregate, to fill seats lying vacant after admitting West Bengal Joint Entrance Examination (WBJEE) candidates and those with engineering diplomas.

Jadavpur University (JU) and Bengal Engineering and Science University (BESU) have displayed stiff resistance stating that the move would erode quality of engineering students. The government remains unfazed and even chose to ignore.

Education minister Bratya Basu's declaration on Monday, that the government would not deviate from the policy, contradicts the Joint Entrance Board's move on Saturday to award ranks only till 90,000 in WBJEE 2013. This was aimed at preserving the quality of engineering students.

"We have consciously taken the decision (to cap WBJEE ranks till 90,000) so that we do not compromise on the quality of students which has remained a concern for the government," said Basu. He, however, added that the government had no plans to do away with the current norm of offering engineering seats to HS science students with more than 45% in the aggregate in case seats are available even after admitting all students who have secured a rank in the WBJEE.

"The number of empty seats in engineering is huge. After several rounds of counselling, there were around 10,000 vacant seats in 2012. A substantial number of seats were filled through WBJEE ranks and from All India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE) and very few students were taken merely on the basis of HS results. This method is also followed in other states. This is the last priority," said a higher education department source. The first priority for engineering admissions is given to students from WBJEE ranks followed by AIEEE ranks.

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