The fate of hundreds of students who “bought” seats by paying lakhs of rupees as donations under the management quota in top engineering colleges hangs in the balance. The managements are refusing to return their money; they say that the case, which pertains to “online admissions” for management quota seats introduced by the state government for the first time this year, is still pending in the AP High Court. The government, on its part, made it clear that it will not ratify those admissions which were made in deviation from “online admissions”.
Parents are tense, with their money unrecoverable for the moment and nobody knowing whom they should approach to resolve the issue, with the government clarifying that it has no role to play in this since the donations were paid illegally by the parents. Parents who “booked” seats in colleges through brokers and educational consultants are a worried lot. The brokers already received their “commissions” from the college managements for booking the seats, which they are refusing to return now, arguing that they have nothing to do with “policy changes” made by the government with regard to management quota admissions at this stage.
The brokers point out that the parents were well aware of the “risk factors” involved in obtaining seats in top colleges for their wards by paying donations. This is the first time that such a problem had arisen due to changed government policy of online admissions for management quota seats.