Counselling for engineering admission begins on a hectic note

Updated on: Saturday, June 22, 2013

Day one of open category counselling for engineering admission began on a hectic note with officials allotting more than three times the number of students as compared to last year.

On Friday, 1,851 students were called for counselling. However, only 1,219 turned up and four did not want an engineering seat. "Last year, we had called for only 600 students on Day 1. Now, we have 10 days lesser, so we are running against time," said V Rhymend Uthariaraj, secretary of Tamil Nadu Engineering Admissions.

And they worked fast. Chithukathi Lavanya, a candidate, was surprised that her admission was over within an hour. "I got into College of Engineering, Guindy, the college I wanted. I don't know how my parents are going to mobilise the resources, but I am excited," said Lavanya, daughter of a daily wage labourer.

Six of the top ten students chose engineering over medicine. "Last year, 1.27 lakh students were called for counselling. This year we expect at least 10,000 more students," said Uthariaraj. "We had about 45 days last year, but have only 34 days this year. We have made all arrangements," he added.

For perhaps the first time, no college was canvassing at the gates of Anna University. The university had banned canvassing on the campus a couple of years ago, but representatives of colleges continued to woo candidates at the gates. Recently, the Association of Engineering College Managements moved the Madras HC seeking a directive against pamphleteering. The court had said it could not pass orders to stop colleges from issuing pamphlets, but if some college makes false claims, they could be proceeded against. Higher education minister P Palaniappan gave away allotment letters to top 10 students.

Counselling for engineering admission begins on a hectic note

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