The government has issued orders making online admissions mandatory for management quotas in engineering and pharmacy colleges to ensure merit and transparency.
For the first time in the history of professional colleges, management quota seats will be offered online, through a single window, like merit quota seats. This means no more selling of seats to the highest bidder and no more donations.
Students and parents will no longer have to do the rounds of engineering colleges to buy and submit applications and there is no scope of colleges denying applications stating that management quota seats are full, as was being done till now.
The government has entrusted the responsibility of conducting online admissions for management quota seats to the AP State Council of Higher Education.
Principal secretary of higher education M.G. Gopal issued two GOs (GO Ms No.66 for non-minority colleges and GO Ms No.67 for minority colleges) to this effect on Monday.
As the delay in issuing the GOs had led to resentment among students and parents, deputy chief minister Damodar Raja Narasimha met Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy on Monday with the draft copy of the GO, which the CM approved immediately. By evening, the orders were issued.
The APSCHE will create an exclusive web portal which will act as a single window for management quota admissions.
Applications will be accepted only after the APSCHE issues the schedule after the completion of the on-going Eamcet counselling on September 14.
In case any college has already filled management quota seats through older methods, they stand cancelled as the government will not ratify those admissions. Each college will have to notify branch-wise seats available and seats will be allotted on merit.
The managements are, however, bracing up for a legal battle against these orders arguing that the state cannot interfere in the management quotas of private colleges, which do not receive any financial aid or subsidies from the government.
Students can select any number of colleges of their choice and submit online applications.
A college-wise merit list will be prepared accordingly after the due date and the colleges have to allot seats to these students.
There will thus be no scope for managements to collect donations other than the government prescribed fees ranging from Rs 35,000 to RS 1.05 lakh.
As per the new norms, 70 per cent of the seats are filled through the merit quota based on rank secured in Eamcet.
The remaining 30 per cent seats in management quota have to be filled online under the supervision of APSCHE.
Out of the 30 per cent quota, 5 per cent seats have to be allotted to NRI students i.e. only children of NRIs, unlike earlier when NRI-sponsored students were also given seats leading to several irregularities in the allotment of seats. In case there are no NRI students, the seats should be offered to other students.
While filling these seats, first preference should be given to AIEEE rank holders, then to Eamcet rank holders and next to students who secured 45 per cent marks in 10+2 exams in group subjects (40 per cent in case of reserved categories).
After processing the online applications, the managements should submit the merit list online to the APSCHE which will verify it and allot seats.
If there are any deviations, such admissions will be cancelled and the managements will have to take up admissions for those vacant seats in the second phase by duly following the merit list.