[Assam] Engineering Seats (LETTERS TO THE EDITOR, The Sentinel, 02.08.2008)

[Buljit Buragohain]

Engineering Seats 

On June 31 last, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi held a meeting at his office chamber and directed the officials of the higher education department to expedite the process of increasing the number of seats in the two State engineering colleges, coupled with increase in faculty members, so that students who have passed higher secondary examination in science stream in large numbers could be accommodated to the extent possible. 
This decision was taken by the State authority due to the high pass percentage in the higher secondary examination this year, and the Chief Minister directed the officials concerned to increase seats in the two engineering colleges by 300 from this academic session itself. He directed the officials to take immediate steps to get the approval from AICTE, New Delhi. 
Education Minister (in-charge) Bhumidhar Barman also replied in the State Assembly that necessary funds for infrastructure had already been released.
But the funny thing is that the counselling of engineering aspirants that started on July 22, did not reflect the assurance given by no less a person than the Chief Minister himself, who took up the matter with the Union Human Resource Development Ministry and also with the Prime minister as reported in the media. The position monitor at the counselling centre showed the seat strength as 590, while aspiring candidates calculated that it would be 890 (590 plus 300). As such, candidates from places like Jorhat, Dibrugarh, Tinsukia and Sivasagar came directly to the counselling centre in the hope of getting admission in the two colleges of the State, but all their high hopes were dashed to the ground, thanks to the failure of the State authority in increasing — as promised — the number of seats in the two engineering colleges. 
I, therefore, request the Chief Minister to look into the matter in the right earnest. (After all, he took up the matter seriously with the authorities in New Delhi.) This will help the student community to avail of technical education in the State.
An increase by 300 seats in the two engineering colleges of the State is not an impossible task.
SD Choudhury, 
Guwahati-18. 

 
(The Sentinel,02.08.2008))


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