Raiganj, Oct. 24 -- The authorities of Raiganj University in North Dinajpur district have expressed grave concern as around 800 out of the 2,400 undergraduate (UG) seats across 26 subjects remain vacant this academic year. According to officials, the last date for applications via the university's website was October 22, after which the institution launched a fresh counseling drive open till November 1. University sources say that the institution will continue efforts until the vacant seats are optimally filled.
The university had initially offered admissions for the degree courses through the state Higher Education department's centralised admission portal from June 18 to July 30, but that process wrapped up about one-and-a-half months ahead of schedule.
Subsequently, from October 16, with the department's permission, the university opened its own portal until 12 midnight on October 21 but even then 800 seats remained vacant. University sources say that students may still avail the ongoing counseling process and that the institution will continue efforts until the vacant seats are optimally filled.
According to officials of Raiganj University, the admission process for undergraduate courses across the state was delayed by nearly
one-and-a-half months this year. As a result of the delay, a large number of students secured admission in various private colleges and universities across the country during the interim period.
Durlav Sarkar, Registrar of Raiganj university attributed the low interest among students to this year's delay in the admission timeline, which he says gave many candidates time to secure places in private colleges or universities in other states. He said: "The difficulties will be brought to the notice of the Higher Education department. Most of the vacant seats are reserved for SC and ST students. Anyway, we have initiated three additional rounds of counseling till November 1 with a target to fill up the vacant seats".
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.