No hike in fee for engineering courses

Special Correspondent
Anna University’s constituent colleges will have an additional 3,360 seats
CHENNAI: The process of selecting students for engineering courses in the State will officially begin on June 20, with the allotment of random numbers for applications submitted. The entire process will be completed by August 16 (graphic on page 4). Last year, the process was over only in end-August. Anna University’s constituent colleges will have an additional 3,360 seats, Higher Education Minister K.Ponmudy told presspersons on Tuesday. There are a total of 354 engineering colleges in the State of which 333 are self-financing colleges. Asked if all the colleges had adequate facilities, Mr. Ponmudy said the government had sent notices to 32 institutions that did not have adequate infrastructure. These institutions would be examined again. Answering questions, Mr. Ponmudy said the government had opposed any hike in fee in engineering colleges in the State. On the widely prevalent practice of ragging newly admitted students, Mr.Ponmudy said there were adequate laws to deal with the problem. On the question of reservation for students, Mr. Ponmudy said 3.5 per cent of reservation from among the Most Backward Communities would be provided to Muslims. From the quota for Scheduled Castes, 3 per cent would be provided for Arundatiyars. There was no change in the overall reservation percentage, he said. In response to another question, Mr. Ponmudy said that there was no dearth of seats in the Arts and Science colleges, especially after the introduction of the shift system in colleges.

Publication: The Hindu - Chennai; Date: May 27, 2009