HC orders special JEE to fill vacant B Tech seats

The Orissa High Court today asked the state government to hold a special Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) to fill the B Tech seats lying vacant in several engineering colleges.
A division bench, comprising Justices Indrajit Mahanti and Biswanath Mohapatra, which gave the order after adjudicating a petition filed by Odisha Private Engineering College Association (OPECA), ordered holding of a second JEE to fill the remaining seats in MCA and BBA lying vacant in several colleges.
Soon after getting the order from the High Court, OPECA today urged the state government to hold a special JEE to fill the vacant B Tech seats.

"We have requested the state government to hold the JEE as per the High Court order to fill the seats by August 15. In case there is some delay, the government can also approach the Supreme Court for an extension in the admission deadline," said OPECA president Binod Dash.
The petition had contested the admission of B Tech students in engineering colleges of Odisha on the basis of a single All India JEE by violating a provision of Odisha Professional Education Act.
The petition said that before merging with the AIJEE, the State Act was not amended.

Further, the State Act also has a provision for a second JEE to fill vacant seats if any, the OPECA president said adding more than 80 per cent seats were lying vacant in nearly 90 colleges after admission on the basis of AIJEE.

The petition had also stated that in view of less number of examination centres in the state for the all India examination, many students could not sit for the test resulting in the vacant seats in the colleges, particularly the private institutions.
While over 43,000 B Tech seats are now available in the state, over 31,000 of them are now vacant, it said.