HYDERABAD: Though the Eamcet results are yet to be released, blocking of seats in top engineering colleges has already begun. According to Telangana Engineering Students Joint Action Committee, colleges are charging around `12-15 lakh per seat in top rung colleges, thereby putting poor deserving students at a disadvantage.
The annual fee in these colleges is around `80,000. Students and activists allege that private engineering colleges are letting students block the seats which they will later hand over once the counselling begins.
As per rules, seats under convenor quota are filled by students who clear Eamcet. Thereafter the seats that are not filled would be transferred to management quota meant to be filled by outstation students, who did not appear for Eamcet but have cleared the JEE.
“While JEE Advanced will be conducted on May 27, Eamcet results are yet to be announced. Anyone who has money can pay and block the seat regardless of his performance in the qualifying tests,” said Sharan Raichur, State president of Telangana Engineering Students JAC.
As many as 17,076 engineering seats were left vacant after the final phase of counselling in the last academic year. With the demand for engineering seats dropping each year, AICTE has decided to put an end to granting approval for additional seats in conventional branches.
Goutham Rao, president, Telangana Engineering Colleges Management Association, says some colleges could be blocking the seats only as a measure to ensure that their seats do not go vacant after Eamcet counselling.
“Most top-rankers in JEE opt for IITs and NITs as a result a large number of seats even in top engineering colleges find no takers. Probably to combat this, colleges are resorting to blocking seats. But of course, this is not correct,” he said.
Rao also refuted that the seats could be blocked for such high prices. “They are just trying to create a hype,” he said.