Puducherry: CENTAC counselling delays in engineering, medical admissions concerns students & parents
The ongoing delay in CENTAC's counselling process for admissions to engineering, medical, and other professional courses in Puducherry has raised significant concerns among students and parents.
Despite the first round of engineering counselling being completed over a month ago, the second and subsequent rounds have yet to commence.
Moreover, the much-anticipated MBBS counselling is still on hold as the government has not yet finalised the seat allocation under government quota in the three private medical colleges.
Earlier this week, Chief Minister N Rangasamy held seat sharing talks with private medical colleges, amidst growing demands for reserving 50% of seats in private medical colleges under the government quota, stated a report by The New Indian Express.
The finalisation of these seats is essential before the seat matrix can be drawn up and counselling sessions can proceed. Only after the MBBS counselling concludes will the process for dental course admissions begin.
Similarly, the counselling for nursing courses has yet to commence, despite the nursing entrance test being conducted and results announced over a month ago.
Parents urge
In this situation, Puducherry UT All CENTAC Students Parents Association (PCESPA) has urged the Lt Governor to expedite the counselling process.
In a memorandum to the Lt Governor, the association's President, M. Narayanasamy, called for the immediate release of the rank list and seat matrix for nursing courses, along with the prompt commencement of the first round of nursing counselling and the second round of engineering counselling. Narayanasamy emphasized the need for CENTAC management to clarify the reasons behind the delay, which is causing significant distress to candidates and their families.
The delay has also led to many students, uncertain about securing a seat through CENTAC, are opting for costly management quota seats to ensure admission to their desired courses, particularly in high-demand branches like Computer Science and Information Technology. Similarly Nursing students are also getting themselves admitted to private nursing colleges by paying a high fee, says Narayanasamy.
Narayanasamy expressed the need for CENTAC to intervene if students who secure management quota seats later gain admission under the government quota. He suggested that CENTAC should facilitate the return of money and certificates from private colleges, ensuring that these students can enrol in government quota seats without financial loss.
Adding to the complexity of the situation, CENTAC recently appointed a new Convenor, Sherlyn Sivam, Principal of Kasthurba College for Women, Villianur, who took charge just a month and a half ago. However, the position of Director of Health cum Medical Education remains vacant following the superannuation of previous Director.
With mounting pressure from students, parents, and the broader community, the call for swift action is growing louder. Sources said that the delay is due to holding of MBBS seat counselling, stated The New Indian Express report.
Unless the process is completed, there will be sliding over and over again in other streams if counselling is conducted.
The wait is on for the return of Lt Governor K Kailashnathan to Puducherry to approve the seat allocation for MBBS. Kasinathan is in Delhi, where he made a courtesy call on President, Prime Minister, Home minister and others, assuming charge as Lt Governor of Puducherry.
