CHENNAI: The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) on Friday informed the Madras High Court that the M Tech courses in biotechnology and computational biology, which were suspended by the Anna University, cannot be conducted this year as the deadline for admission to the courses has lapsed. The deadline, set by the Supreme Court, was December 31, 2020.
The issue pertains to differences in the Central government’s insistence that the university follow the 49.5 per cent reservation policy and not the State government’s 69 per cent quota in admission, that resulted in the suspension of the courses.
During Friday’s hearing, the counsel for the AICTE informed Justice B Pugalendhi that it was the only approving authority for the courses and it had apprehensions about recommencing them since the extended deadline had lapsed.
The judge, recording the submissions, sought for Anna University and the State government to approach the Supreme Court and obtain an extension of the deadline. However, the counsel for Anna University said that the AICTE was the authority responsible for seeking the Supreme Court’s approval for an extension.
Earlier, during the hearing, special government pleader E Manoharan, appearing for the State government, submitted that 45 students would be admitted under the Central scholarship, with 49.5 per cent reservation. An additional super-numeric 19.5 per cent reservation of the State would be given to the remaining nine students of the current year. After Anna University’s counsel sought more time to consult the authorities, the judge, expressing disappointment, directed the AICTE and the varsity to file a report by Monday seeking clarification on the issue.