DTE extends engg/pharma admission dates

Updated on: Friday, July 01, 2011

Concerned over the miserable response to the engineering and pharmacy degree courses, the Directorate of Technical Education (DTE) has extended the deadline of form submission till July 2. TOI got information, on Wednesday, about the extremely poor response in Nagpur division where nearly 9,000 engineering seats are likely to remain vacant this year.

As per the DTE communique, on account of "administrative" difficulties, the dates have been extended till Saturday 5pm. Even the candidates aspiring for a seat in autonomous institute would be benefited. Though the reasons are quite obvious, technical education director Subhash Mahajan refused to buy the arguments. "The extension was given as many students from Mumbai and Pune were finding it difficult to get their caste and validity certificates. There was a request from their side to extend the dates," Mahajan told TOI from Mumbai. He however added that about 90,000 students have applied for engineering seats from all over the state against 1.14 lakh seats till Wednesday.

As per the DTE officials from Nagpur, the total forms submitted till Wednesday were-13,881 for engineering, 4,337 for diploma and 720 for pharmacy. Presently, the Nagpur division, comprising six districts, has 21,721 seats in as many as 58 engineering colleges, 21,755 diploma seats in 58 polytechnics and 1,050 pharma seats in 18 colleges. Even last year over 22,000 engineering seats were vacant in all Maharashtra colleges of which 6,000 were from Nagpur University alone.

These recurring circumstances have raised many questions about the change in students' mindset in preferring this field as a stable career option. Academicians attributed this trend to huge increase in number of seats and exorbitant increase in fee structure.

Senior academician Dr Ved Prakash Mishra was of the view that the number of avenues in this field had metamorphosed. "Within a span of five years, engineering colleges and seats have doubled. Moreover, some branches are given more priority by students due to which seats for other branches remain vacant," he said.

Former engineering dean, DK Agrawal, believed that the migration of students to other universities was the main reason for this reduction in admissions. "Most of the creamy lot prefers to go to renowned institutions in Mumbai and Pune while the number of those who come here from other universities is almost negligible. Additionally, the slump in the HSC results this year, also has led to a decline in the number of eligible candidates," he said.

Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Technical University vice chancellor, Rajiv Mankar, said the ratio of the number of seats and eligible candidates was not in proportion. "The engineering students still have a bright career as job prospects remain unchanged," he said.

Times of India

DTE extends engg/pharma admission dates

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