Students appearing for Law CET allotted centres far from their area of residence

Chintamani Joshi

Students appearing for the Maharashtra CET Law (three-year course) entrance examination on Monday and Tuesday (October 4 and 5) are upset about being given centres that are far from their area of residence. Many have to travel nearly two hours to reach their given centre.

Shashank Joshi, a Kanjurmarg resident, who is appearing for the Law entrance examination, said that he has been allocated a centre in Vasai Road. "While filling the form I had requested for a centre in the suburban area as my first choice. I kept Thane and Mumbai Island city as the next choice. To my shock I was given a centre in Vasai Road. With limited entry in local trains and traffic jams, reaching Vasai Road will be terribly difficult."

Another student, appearing for the same course, lives in the eastern suburb, but has been given a centre in the western suburb of Kandivli. The student, requesting anonymity, said, "Since I live in Mulund, I had opted for Mumbai suburban east and Thane. Now, I have to travel all the way to Kandivili for my exam, which will start at 2 pm. As per the norms, I will have to be there at least an hour before the gate shuts. This means that I will have to leave my house in the morning."

Highly placed officials within Maharashtra CET informed mid-day that this time around, the state government issued tender contracts to two different companies to conduct the entrance examination, instead of opting for a leading software company, which has been conducting such entrance tests for years. Of the two shortlisted companies, one is based in Karnataka.

The official added, "We had no issues, when the entire CET examination was handled by the professionally managed software company. That company has a vast set up across Mumbai and the outskirts, including the rest of Maharashtra. The entire process would have gone smoothly."

When contacted, Chintamani Joshi, Commissioner and Competent Authority, State Common Entrance Test (CET) Cell, Government of Maharashtra admitted that they had given the contract to the "lowest bidder" to conduct entrance examinations for different courses.

When asked about the difficulty students were facing, Joshi said, "The issue of travel inconvenience will be caused to Mumbai and MMR students, and not the rest of Maharashtra, as the new company, to whom the entire Maharashtra CET examination has been outsourced, shortlisted the candidates on the basis of district, and not place of residence [which was the criterion earlier]. Hence, many students could not get accommodated in centres close to their home."