CS expresses concern over unfilled seats in certain professional courses

Asks for carrying out analysis, taking corrective measures

STATE TIMES NEWS

SRINAGAR: Chief Secretary, Atal Dulloo, on Tuesday chaired a meeting of Board of Professional Entrance Examinations (BOPEE) during which he emphasised on optimal utilization of available slots of admissions in various professional courses including Engineering and B.Ed being offered by the colleges in the UT.
The meeting was attended by Commissioner Secretary, GAD; Commissioner Secretary, IT; Secretary H&ME; Secretary, SDD; Secretary, ARI & Trainings; Chairperson, BOPEE and other concerned officers. While taking note of the admission process by the professional board, the Chief Secretary impressed upon the concerned to look into the causes that results in less uptake of certain courses being offered by the professional colleges here. He called for carrying out a detailed analysis of the reasons behind this phenomenon and addressing the same at an earliest. He also suggested to list out the courses and colleges facing this situation and look into the position of faculty, infrastructure and other ancillary facilities available for imparting training in these specific trades.
Dulloo urged the higher education department to make more efforts to create awareness among the students so that no seat remains vacant in these colleges. He said that the candidates are moving outside UT for seeking admission in professional courses, therefore it is time to introspect and take corrective measures wherever necessary.
The Chief Secretary also reviewed development of online counselling portal for the Board, which is expected to be made ready by the end of this month by the NIC. He directed for launching it at an earliest so that from next session the admissions are exclusively made through this portal only.
Regarding the admission process the Chairperson, JKBOPEE, Minu Mahajan, apprised the meeting that the timeline for filling of remaining seats as per the directions were issued and extended upto 31st of this month.
Giving details, it was added that out of the 1107 MBBS seats under UT quota 100% admissions had been made. Similarly, in the courses of BDS, MDS, BAMS, BUMS, BPT, B.Sc Nursing, almost all seats had been filled by the Board through counselling process. Besides, the courses like B.E/B.Tech having around 600 seats in government colleges and B.Ed having 330 seats in government run institutions had got 410 and 229 seats filled till date.
It was further revealed that certain relaxations had been given in admission process besides extending the cut off date for easement of the students. It was added that vigorous information campaigns had also been launched so that the capacity of these institutions is utilized optimally and no seat remains vacant there.