More than 1,000 applicants have withdrawn from the seats allotted to them in the engineering colleges after the counselling conducted by the Odisha Joint Entrance Examination (OJEE) was over.
The final allotment list for engineering colleges under the OJEE was published on Wednesday. About 19,600 applicants were allotted seats in the engineering colleges as per the provisional list a few days ago. In the final list, seats were allotted to 18,000-odd applicants.
The problem of vacant seats, particularly in private engineering colleges, continues to persist. This year, the sanctioned strength for engineering colleges was at an all-time high of more than 45,000 seats.
Likewise, the vacant seats also have also touched a high with more than 27,000 engineering seats remaining to be filled up after the final allotment. Private engineering colleges have again reportedly approached the State Government to conduct second round of counselling to fill up the vacant seats.
But its chances this year seem to be slim. The OJEE officials have said that the final decision to conduct a second round of counselling rests with the State Government. The students, who have been allotted the final seats, have to report to their colleges between July 18 and July 20. The counselling for National Eligibility- cum-Entrance Test (NEET) rank holders for the medical colleges will be held from July 22 to July 25.
Central counselling will be conducted for NEET rank-holders for which one nodal centre has been set up at Institute of Engineers in Bhubaneswar. The OJEE will conduct counselling for 85 per cent of the seats in the medical colleges of the State.
More then 4,000 students have registered for counselling of medical seats conducted by the OJEE.
The students who have registered will have to come to nodal centre in Bhubaneswar for their choice locking and document verification. The total sanctioned strength for MBBS is 850 seats and for Bachelor in Dental Surgery (BDS) 150 seats.