Plea to stay engineering counselling slated for June 27

Chennai: Contending that the single window counselling for admission to engineering colleges conducted by the Tamil Nadu Engineering Admission has become completely impractical and lost the purpose for which the same was introduced, a self-financing engineering colleges management association has approached the Madras High Court to restrain the Anna University from conducting counselling scheduled to be held from June 27 for the academic year 2017-18.

Justice M.M. Sundresh before whom the petition filed by S. Mohamed Jaleel, President, Tirunelveli Anna University of Technology Self-Financing Engineering Colleges Management Association, came up for hearing, directed the standing counsel to Anna University to get instructions and posted to June 27, further hearing of the case.

According to petitioner, each unaided non-minority educational institution hands over 65 per cent of its sanctioned strength to the government as “Counselling Seats”. In the past 3 years, over 50 per cent of the counselling seats have not been filled by the Tamil Nadu Engineering Admission (TNEA) and were ultimately returned to the respective colleges as “lapsed seats”. However, this entire TNEA process leaves the educational institutions with no time to find engineering aspirants for the lapsed seats and consequently, thousands of seats were left vacant each year.

He said the seat-sharing formula of 65 per cent and 50 per cent for non-minority and minority unaided educational institutions cannot be perceived as a perpetual formula as the same was purposeless and impracticable and this was also liable to be reviewed through a due process of consultation and consensus building.

HC notice to Anna varsity, AICTE on unapproved colleges

The Madurai bench of the Madras HC issued a notice to the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) on Thursday on a petition that 15 Anna University constituent colleges be restrained from participating in the forthcoming TN engineering admissions counselling for 2017-18, scheduled from June 27 and also not to admit the students. S. Umar Farouq, coordinator of the District Forum of Parents Association for Students Welfare, Madurai informed the division bench comprising Justices A. Selvam and N. Authinathan that these 15 University engineering colleges located at Arni, Villupuram, Tindivanam, Kancheepuram, Panruti, Ariyalur, Thirukkuvalai, Pattukottai, Ariyalur, Ramanathapuram, Dindigul, Madurai, Tirunelveli and Coimbatore, were functioning without obtaining mandatory approval from the AICTE for many years now.