Second round of counselling in WBJEE

Mou Chakraborty
Kolkata, September 2, 2007
There is some good news for engineering aspirants. The authorities have decided to hold a second round of counselling after the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has given a green light to a new engineering college in the state.
In a meeting held recently, the Technical Education Department has decided to hold a second round of counselling for the successful candidates of West Bengal Joint Entrance Examination (WBJEE).
“Though counselling was over but with AICTE giving approval to one institution we have decided to conduct another session. They have allowed some colleges to increase their seats and so more vacancies have been created,” said Sajal Dasgupta, director of technical education.
There are about 15000 seats in engineering colleges, all of which have been filled up in the first round of counselling. About 800 new seats have been created in the engineering colleges in the state. The AICTE has also given permission to some of the existing institutions to introduce new subjects. Some colleges have also increased their seats in some subjects from this academic session.
The coordinator of Central Selection Committee (CSC) for Engineering and Technology Ajit Kumar Chattopadhyay said, “We are yet to receive any written communication from the technical education department. But I have heard that they have decided upon the second round of counselling.”
Though the second phase of counselling will start from this month no date has been announced. The first round concluded with rank number 28003. So the second round of counselling will start from rank number 28004. “We concluded our counselling at 27000. However, the outstation quota could not be filled up and hence we had to interview another thousand students,” said Chattopadhyay.
In 2006, the CSC had called students up to the rank of 75000 because most of them did not seek admission in private colleges. But his year counselling was conducted without any hitch. In 2007, 1,10,144 students sat for the WBJEE. Among them 45,000 students were featured in the WBJEE engineering and technology merit list. The counselling begun at Howrah Sara Sadan from June 25 and went on for a month.
(Mou.Chakraborty@hindustantimes.com)