BANGALORE: The counselling for admissions to engineering courses which was supposed to start from June 27 has been postponed to July 7 following the delay in approval of seat matrix of over 35 engineering colleges by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).
The AICTE which governs technical education in the country is yet to approve seat matrix of 3035 colleges including some top colleges in the state. The council was supposed to meet on June 21 to decide on the subject, but the meeting has been postponed to June 28.
Speaking to reporters here on Thursday, Higher Education Minister V S Acharya squarely blamed the AICTE for the delay and the inconvenience being caused to the students and parents. "From our side, we were fully prepared to conduct counselling as per the schedule. We had informed the AICTE about the schedule well in advance. But despite our repeated requests, the AICTE caused the delay due which we are forced to defer the counselling," Acharya said.
However, he expressed confidence that the counselling would be concluded as per the schedule on July 29 for Architecture and September 16 for other engineering courses. The Karnataka Education Authority (KEA) has been asked to conduct counselling on Saturdays and Sundays to make up for the delay,he added.
Similarly, the Medical Council of India (MCI) is yet to approve seat matrix of five government medical colleges besides approving additional seats in some colleges. "As and when the MCI approval comes, we will start the second round of counselling for medical seats," he said.