The state’s first effort to fill vacant engineering seats through a January admission cycle has yielded just two confirmed admissions, highlighting the poor response to the initiative.
Officials from the Admission Committee for Professional Courses (ACPC) said only two students—both fresh candidates—secured seats in a government engineering college in central Gujarat. They were the only takers from a pool of 370 vacant seats opened for the January intake in government and grant-in-aid colleges.
Just three new applicants appeared for the January admission process. While two confirmed their seats, the third did not go ahead with the admission.
Overall, 43 students had enrolled for the January intake. However, only six were first-time applicants, while the remaining were repeat candidates already enrolled in other engineering colleges. Officials said these repeat applicants did not turn up for the admission process, further reducing the turnout.
The poor response raised questions within ACPC about the practicality of conducting an admission cycle with more available seats than applicants. Nevertheless, the education department directed that the process be completed, even if only a few students benefited.
The January intake was introduced following an AICTE mandate, with the state required to complete the admission process by January 19.