E-Paper
Meritorious students fear disqualification under new CET rules
CET Cell extends BE and MBA application deadlines to July 12 and 11, respectively. New admission rules face backlash from students and parents.
The State Common Entrance Test (CET) Cell has extended the deadline for registration for engineering (BE) and MBA courses. The last date to apply for BE courses is now July 12, while for MBA, it is July 11. The earlier registration deadline for both the courses was July 8. The deadline has been extended because many students have not yet completed their applications, CET Cell officials stated.
The provisional merit list will be released on July 15, followed by the final merit list on July 21.
The application process began on June 28 and till July 8, 2,27,358 applications had been received for engineering courses, with 1,70,601 students completing the application process by paying the fees. For the MBA programme, 59,554 students have registered, while 33,338 have completed the application process.
Students will be able to submit their grievances regarding the provisional merit list from July 16 to July 18. The schedule for further CAP (Centralised Admission Process) rounds will be announced on the official website soon.
Meanwhile, the new admission rules introduced this year by the state higher and technical education department have sparked dissatisfaction among sections of the students. Under these rules, if a student gets a seat from any of their top three preferences in the second round, they are eliminated from further rounds. In the third round, this rule applies to the top six preferences.
Ajinkya Palkar, representing the Pune branch of the National Youth Congress (SP), has submitted a formal demand to the state CET Cell, seeking immediate withdrawal of the new rules.
He explained why: “Suppose in the third round, the cut-off for a particular branch in a college is 90%. Ideally, students scoring 89%, 88%, 87%, and so on should be considered for admission in the next rounds. However, due to the new rules, these meritorious students will be disqualified, and the seats will be allotted to students with comparatively lower scores.”
Agreeing with him, many students and their parents are of the view that this change can force students to accept seats in colleges with high cut-offs, even when better opportunities might come in later rounds. In such cases, students with higher merit may be disqualified, while those with lower marks can secure admission.
“In the name of efficiency, the system is punishing the most deserving students,” a parent said.
CET Cell officials, however, stated that the changes have been introduced to speed up the admission process.
