JOIN USLast date to pay CET fee is tomorrow
In a much-needed relief for students, the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) has extended the last date for paying fees and reporting to colleges. The new deadline is July 16.
Following days of chaos over the procedure of e-payment of fees, the KEA extended the deadline by a day, giving students some more time to prepare themselves.
Those who want to confirm the seats allotted to them in the first round of counselling have to report to colleges by Tuesday.
Those who wish to take part in the second round need not report to the college but will have to pay the fees, if they wish to keep their existing seats as a back-up. Or they can simply attend the second round without paying the fees now, in which case they would forfeit the seats allotted to them in the first round.
Row over SJCE seats
Meanwhile, angry parents and students confronted KEA officials on Sunday, over the undecided status of seats at Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering (SJCE), Mysore, which is one of the top ten institutions in the State.
Students who have already paid the admission fee for the BE seats at SJCE they secured through the KEA were left clueless when the college refused admission, saying the allotted seats were simply not available. The State government had gobbled up all the 120 seats at SJCE in clear violation of the consensual agreement.
But the High Court set aside the seat matrix for the college on July 11. Of 120 seats in Electronics and Communication and Computer Science engineering, 60 are aided and the remaining unaided. As per the consensual agreement, the government can claim only 45 per cent of unaided seats; 30 per cent will go to the Comed-K and the rest to the college management. The college accused the government of snatching its share.
While the number of seats was still to be fixed, the KEA allotted seats to students during the first round of counselling. Students are at sea now as the college has refused to admit them following the HC order.
“When they knew that the matter was before the High Court, why did they allot the seats? Students chose the seats as SJCE is one of the top-ranking colleges. We could have settled for the next best college. But we are left with no seats now,” a parent said, requesting anonymity.
Govt to move court
The aggrieved parties met the Higher Education Minister, R V Deshpande, with regard to the issue. The Principal Secretary, Higher Education, Rajneesh Goel, promised that the government would not go against students’ interests.
“We will approach the High Court seeking appropriate directions. We allotted the seats on July 10 and the High Court order came the next day.” KEA officials, on their part, said the seat matrix was drawn similar to the earlier years and they did not anticipate the problem.