Friday, Jun 25, 2010

• Admission process to be fast-tracked

Bangalore: Putting an end to the uncertainty, the State Government has decided to resume the engineering counselling process on July 7.

This will bring relief to thousands of engineering seat aspirants who have been in a quandary since the CET counselling process, slated to commence on June 19, was “indefinitely postponed” owing to lack of All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) approval for 178 engineering colleges across the State. The AICTE has promised to hand over the list of approved engineering colleges, both existing and new ones, by June 28, said Administrative Officer of the Karnataka Examinations Authority S.P. Kulkarni.

The decision was the outcome of the Minister for Higher Education Arvind Limbavali's meeting with Union Minister for Human Resource Development Kapil Sibal, Union Minister for Law and Justice M. Veerappa Moily and AICTE Chairman S.S. Mantha.

The Government has also decided to “fast-track” the admission process. In a departure from its original 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. schedule, the admission process will begin at 7.30 a.m. and go on till 11 p.m. in order to make up for lost time.

“The KEA will work round the clock to ensure there is no setback. In fact, we are committed to working on Saturdays and Sundays,” Mr. Kulkarni said.