Students protest 50 percent seat cut in second-year engineering

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Following the sharp cut in intake of diploma holders into the second year of engineering courses, students have taken to the internet to protest the decision. The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) recently announced a 50 per cent drop in seats in this category.

The hurried implementation of this regulation, according to students, is unfair to the ones already pursuing their diploma courses. The students' petition thus demands that the regulation must be implemented for the new batch of students enrolling into the diploma engineering course.

Students who pursue an engineering diploma course after Std X are eligible for admission to the second year of the four-year engineering degree course. For such students, 20 per cent seats are reserved in engineering colleges. But according to the new announcement, this year onward, only 10 per cent seats will be available for the diploma holders.

"The AICTE is slimming our chances of securing admission to good colleges. If there are vacant seats in some colleges, it is because they are not preferred by students. Just to help some colleges deal with their vacancy issue, AICTE is slashing down on seats across colleges," said a distressed student.

Abhijeet Samant, the man behind the petition and father of an aggrieved student, has been writing to authorities concerned to review the decision. "Our only request is that this decision must be implemented from the academic year 2022. This will help students make informed decisions," Samant said. The online petition has in the last couple of days received close to 2,000 signatures.

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