Undergraduate admissions through centralised portal to start next wk
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Kolkata: Undergraduate admissions through the centralized admission portal (CAP) are set to start next week. State education minister Bratya Basu clarified on Sunday that the legal issue over reservations for OBC candidates would not impact the overall admission procedure.
UG admissions across 460-odd colleges and universities in Bengal through the centralised portal has been stalled owing to the OBC-related case in the Supreme Court. The education department has written to the advocate-general (AG), seeking clarification on starting college admissions. "This is an ongoing legal matter, and the higher authority is looking into it. We are waiting for the final nod from the higher authority to start admissions.
The centralized admission portal was launched last year, and this year, too, admissions will be conducted on it smoothly. Legal issues will not impact the overall admission process," said Basu after the 33rd annual general meeting and annual conference of All Bengal Principals' Council on Sunday.
However, private and autonomous colleges, which are not part of the centralised portal, such as St Xavier's College and Ramakrishna Mission institutes, have started their admissions.
An official said the portal was ready and it would be opened once the higher education department gave the go-ahead. Senior officials of the department hinted at the possible elimination of the OBC criteria from the UG level to avoid further legal issues, but everything depended on the reply from the AG. However, Basu made it clear on Sunday that everything depends on the final nod on this matter from the higher authorities.
A higher education department official pointed out that among the reserved seats, those set aside for the OBC category had the highest number of takers and at the end of the admission process, hardly any vacancy was reported in that slot. College principals are also concerned about filling up seats as admissions under the centralised portal are yet to start, while private and autonomous colleges and universities are already conducting the process.
The principal of a north Kolkata college said, "We received some enquiries from applicants who asked about the tentative date for the opening of the admission portal. We told them to keep an eye on the website as the entire process will be online."
Basu, too, reiterated that "this would not be a major issue and would not impact the admission". "Last time, there were some vacancies in some particular subjects that might remain vacant this year, too, but overall, admissions through the centralised portal would be smooth, just like last year," he said. Asutosh College principal Manas Kabi said they had full faith in the govt and that they hoped the process would start soon.
New Alipore College principal Jaydeep Sarangi said, "Today, we couldn't get any time to discuss the matter, but we are hopeful about admissions beginning shortly."
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