Kolkata: Wish list makes admissions faster, but colleges still worried about fair seat assignment

KOLKATA: With just 10 days left for UG admissions to close, several colleges fear genuine aspirants may miss out on berths due to seats being blocked by those who have chosen to study in specific colleges without conveying their decisions to the others.
While a wish-list system that asked students to choose a course in a college has made admissions faster, principals said it hasn’t been able to solve the problem since candidates have been opting for courses in multiple colleges without opting out of any.
This year, a huge number of applications were submitted, but admission has been slow. However, it has picked up speed over the last few days. Subhasis Dutta, principal of Maulana Azad College, said, “Seats are filling faster now and cancellations are happening. But we are still worried about selecting the deserving students according to the vacancies.”

Principal of Scottish Church College Madhumanjari Mandal said the process is going well now and a wish list has been published after the third round of admissions. “Less than 300 seats are vacant now, but the high-demand subjects are almost full,” she said.
Others felt the wish-list system was not fool-proof as there was no specific rule of assigning seats to ensure all candidates get a fair chance. “General seats are filling up and the honours subjects are almost full, but cancellations are being made as well,” said Jogamaya Devi College principal Sarbani Sarkar.
Presidency University has completed the second round of admission. “The admission process is smooth and will be completed within the time notified by the state,” said registrar Debajyoti Konar.
Another college principal said it was too early to say if all seats across colleges would be taken. Officials felt students are focused on a few colleges and subjects which have got a lot of applications while the rest have failed to attract many students. “But the seat count includes subjects that are not popular,” said an official.