CHENNAI: Engineering aspirants do not have to travel from across the State to Anna University for engineering counselling anymore as the Tamil Nadu Engineering Admissions (TNEA) will go online from this year, according to a statement issued by V Rhymend Uthariaraj, Secretary, TNEA, on Friday.
Students can use the TNEA counselling system through internet from the comfort of their home or from one of the 44 TNEA facilitation centres (TFC) that will be established by the government, covering all districts.
Over a lakh students are estimated to use online service this year. This will reduce the 21-year-old ordeal of students from different parts of the State having to find boarding, lodging and transport for the sake of the admission counselling.
Applicants, however, have to pay a fee of Rs 500 or Rs 250 if they are Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe candidates. According to the statement, applicants should visit the assigned TFC along with hard copies of their original certificates and photo-copies of the same for verification. Subsequently a merit-list will be prepared for eligible candidates through the portal.
“The applicant will be grouped based on their cut-off marks and each group of applicants will be allowed into the counselling system round-wise,” the statement said, adding that applicants are required to pay a sum of Rs 5,000 towards initial deposit for college admissions and express their preferences in the next three days. For special counselling in the sports or differently-abled quota, an in-person programme will be conducted.“SMS and email alerts to the applicants in their registered IDs will be sent during each stage of counselling,” the statement added.