Thanks to dithering govt, engg admissions not yet approved

The Department of Technical Education (DTE) is firm in its refusal to approve BE admission unless the State government offers clarity on extra fees and seats that have remained vacant after the counselling by the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA).

The process, which began on September 2 and was to have ended on Friday, has dragged on as the DTE is still verifying documents of colleges. A DTE official said that all documents with regard to colleges would be submitted to the government on Monday and it would have to take a decision.

Last year, the government had indicated that vacant seats would go back to the college managements. This year, however, the government has not given any such direction so as to authorise colleges to fill the seats, the official added. Several colleges, however, have already lapped up the vacant seats, taking their cue from the last year’s rule.

As for the excess fee issue, the government earlier asked the colleges to publish on their websites the sum they charge over and above the stipulated fee. These details were also to be submitted to the DTE which was, in turn, supposed to host the information on its website.

So much so that the absence of a clear-cut definition of excess fee was pointed out by none other than the DTE Director, H U Talawar, in a letter to the principal secretary of higher education. As of Friday, only 108 of the 196 colleges have submitted details on extra fee.

Elaborating on the point, M S Govinde Gowda, Principal, C Byregowda Institute of Technology, Kolar, said: “The government had ample time to decide on excess fees but it woke up only in May when the admission process was to begin. Say I charge for the internet facilities at my college, I cannot deny a student this facility because he/she has not paid for it. Workshops and seminars are important to improve the standing of a college and for the development of a student. How can we deny it to one and allow to another?”

M K Panduranga Setty, Secretary, Karnataka Unaided Private Engineering Colleges’ Association, blamed the government for the confusion and said it had not issued an official order. “It has just given an oral and informal order. As per the consensual agreement, seat remaining unfilled after June 27 can be filled by the management,” he said.