Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu held a meeting with the APSCHE officials to explore whether they could go ahead with the counselling process leaving aside the 15 per cent unreserved (non-local) seats and what implications that could have on A.P. students.
Officials explained to him that counselling process has to be taken up for the two states together or else toppers would lose out on good colleges in Hyderabad. A top ranker who could have secured a seat in top college in Hyderabad would have to forego the seat if separate counselling for A.P. was done. “This would be playing into the hands of Telangana government that is deliberately delaying the process to keep A.P. students out of Hyderabad,” an official explained.
Officials also fear that if separate counselling is held for A.P., the issue would land in the courts with every possibility of top rankers questioning the decision as they would be the losers. Moreover, right from the EAMCET notification the understanding is that only combined counselling would be held as admissions to all higher educational institutions have been placed in the Xth Schedule of the AP Reorganisation Act.
Confusion in T Confusion continues to prevail on engineering admissions in Telangana even with the government officials unable to give a clear picture.
The decision to seek permission from the Supreme Court to extend the deadline for admissions to October from July 31 is yet to take shape. The government was supposed to file an appeal in the Supreme Court on Monday but officials say the exercise is still on. “It might take a day or two and the exercise is on. The Advocate General is looking into it,” said the Secretary, Higher Education, Telangana government, Vikas Raj.
Another official, who does not want to be quoted, said that one of the reasons for the delay in filing the appeal is to prepare an action plan if the Supreme Court rejects the government’s argument. It is a sensitive issue as thousands of students are involved and the parents are eagerly waiting for the admission process to start. The delay will also put the government in a negative light and the issue has to be settled fast, he said. However, come clarity is expected by Wednesday evening.
Long wait It has been almost three months since the Intermediate students are out of college and waiting for another three months to start the academic year is testing their patience. The youngsters are already under tremendous pressure, unsure of which college they would get into and the course of their choice. The delay would further add to their woes.
