HC rejects private colleges' plea seeking stay on counselling

The Andhra Pradesh high court on Monday rejected the plea of the private colleges seeking stay on the ongoing Eamcet counselling.

The Telangana Engineering and Professional Colleges Managements Association (TEPCMA) had filed the petition against the state government's move not to include 175 colleges in the ongoing Phase I counselling.

The court, however, posted the matter for further hearing on August 22.

The TEPCMA had approached the court as the Telangana government on Sunday went ahead with a GO enlisting 140 colleges under the student web options, as against the anticipated 315 colleges. The association had even announced it would not hesitate to reject the admissions this year if the government failed to include all the engineering colleges in the ongoing web counselling.

Calling the state's decision unfair, TEPCMA member Gautam Rao said, "non-renewal of affiliation to these 175 colleges by JNTU-H was undemocratic, and no show-cause notice had been served to the college managements prior to the action".

This means all these 175 colleges would have to wait till the court gives its direction even as students select their colleges under Phase-I web counselling, which ends on August 27.

L Venugopala Reddy, chairman of Andhra Pradesh Council for Higher Education (APSCHE), said the likelihood of these colleges figuring in Phase-I looked bleak, and most likely they would be included in the second phase counselling.

The JNTU did not renew their affiliation citing lack of "adequate academic staff, requisite infrastructure, computer labs."

Speaking to Business Standard, Rajeshwar Rao, chairman of CVR Group of Colleges, said, "there would be at least 20,000 seats going vacant from the available 85,000 seats across the listed 140 colleges in the state this year."

This, he said, was due to migration of students to neighbouring states besides a general drop in interest for pursuing engineering streams among them.