DTE angry on private engineering colleges. Holds BE admissions

Department of Technical Education (DTE), Bangalore angry on private engineering colleges for converting vacant CET seats into management seats without informing the DTE authorities.

DTE has found that many colleges have converted vacant Common Entrance Test (CET) seats into management quota seats, in the absence of the government permission.

As a result, DTE holds the B.E courses admissions.

"Last year, the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA), Bangalore had permitted colleges to fill up vacant CET seats under the management quota. This year, there is no such order, but colleges have gone ahead to make such admissions. If we don't get such an order, we will withhold approval of such admissions," stated DTE director H U Talawar.

The Karnataka Unaided Private Engineering Colleges Association (KUPECA) rejected DTE's claim that there is no permission for colleges to convert vacant CET seats to management quota.

"DTE has got it absolutely wrong. There is a consensual agreement and the DTE is very much a part of the signing of the agreement," said KUPECA president M K Panduranga Setty.

According to the KEA, as many as 12,355 engineering seats are left vacant under CET this year. Citing one instance, a DTE official said a prominent college in Bangalore South had admitted six students under the management quota against the CET seats that were vacant.

"In such cases, the admissions will be cancelled as they will not be valid," he said.

DTE also stalled the admission approval process of engineering colleges until the state government clarified on the issue of "excess fee."

The admissions of students will be approved only after DTE is convinced that every student meets the eligibility criteria. This year, the state government had directed all colleges to upload details of fee collected on their respective websites and submit the same to DTE.