VIJAYAWADA: Private engineering colleges in the State are not losing any time to block (sell) seats under the management quota even though the Eamcet results are yet to be announced. Blocking a seat in the parlance of engineering colleges is to admit a student in a stream of his choice upon payment of pre-agreed fee. Management quota is the gold mine for colleges to make hefty money.
Though officials of the higher education department have issued clear instructions to colleges not to resort to such practices, there is little effect. Following postponement of Eamcet results indefinitely, private deemed universities in the State have already started their admission process and it’s likely to be completed in a few days. This practice by private universities is the main reason attributed to a large number of seats lying vacant in engineering colleges across the State, according to educationists.
Though hundreds of convenor quota seats go abegging, those of management quota in top colleges are sold like hot cakes every year. In the 2018-19 academic year, there were 326 engineering colleges, including 21 in government sector, with over 1.4 lakh seats in the State. While government colleges had 4,466 seats, there were 1,36,790 seats in private institutions.
Private engineering colleges use their discretion to allocate 15 percent of the seats under the management quota, while the remaining are filled under the convenor quota through Eamcet counselling. As merit or Eamcet ranks or nativity of candidates are not taken as criteria for admission under the management quota, private colleges enjoy the bargaining power. Top colleges strike deals for fee ranging between `5 lakh to 10 lakh with candidates for management quota seats even before announcement of Eamcet results in violation of `80,000-fee cap fixed by the government. Depending on popularity of colleges and success rate in on-campus placements, the fee for each seat is fixed.
Selling seats for astronomical fee and blocking them before the counselling process is illegal. Officials of the higher education department have already issued instructions to all private colleges to stop blocking seats.Speaking to TNIE, S Varadarajan, Secretary of AP State Council for Higher Education (APSCHE) said, “Whenever instances of private colleges resorting to such underhand dealings come to our notice, we take action against. We have clearly instructed colleges to stick to rules. We will not tolerate violation of rules by private colleges.”
No. of colleges and seats at a glance
4,466
No. of seats in university colleges (government)
1,36,790
Total number of seats in private colleges
25,000
No. seats left vacant in 2018
305
No. of private engineering colleges in State
21
No. of govt colleges