College admissions: HC nod to manual applications
BHUBANESWAR: Students aspiring to take admission in Odisha colleges for the 2012-13 academic session can submit manual application forms. The Orissa High Court passed an interim order in this regard on Tuesday.
The order came in response to a PIL filed by social activist and former chemistry lecturer Biswabasu Dash, challenging the compulsory e-admission system introduced by the state government for admission in Plus-II and Plus-III courses in colleges across the state.
In his petition, Dash said a student had to pay much less in filling up forms in the manual mode as the e-admission process entailed hidden costs such as traveling to a cyber cafe and cost of using the internet there. He also alleged the claim that e-admission would bring credibility to the system was belied by the CAG report which described the lacunae and anomalies in the system. Besides, the claim that e-admission would reduce the anxiety and tension among students and parents was not true as unfamiliarity of this high-tech method and the need to travel to cyber cafes and SAMS Center there has been a quantum leap in anxiety and tension levels, the petition said. The petition also highlighted large scale financial gain by the state government in the e-admission process.
A joint bench of Justices Sanju Panda and B K Mishra ordered: "During pendency of the writ petition, there is no bar for students to apply for admission into degree courses during the academic session 2012-13 by applications manually."
Higher education secretary Chandra Sekhar Kumar said, "We are looking into the matter and would make arrangements to act as per the court order as soon as possible."
The computer-based admission for Plus-III courses in different degree colleges in the state had already started on June 1.
The order came in response to a PIL filed by social activist and former chemistry lecturer Biswabasu Dash, challenging the compulsory e-admission system introduced by the state government for admission in Plus-II and Plus-III courses in colleges across the state.
In his petition, Dash said a student had to pay much less in filling up forms in the manual mode as the e-admission process entailed hidden costs such as traveling to a cyber cafe and cost of using the internet there. He also alleged the claim that e-admission would bring credibility to the system was belied by the CAG report which described the lacunae and anomalies in the system. Besides, the claim that e-admission would reduce the anxiety and tension among students and parents was not true as unfamiliarity of this high-tech method and the need to travel to cyber cafes and SAMS Center there has been a quantum leap in anxiety and tension levels, the petition said. The petition also highlighted large scale financial gain by the state government in the e-admission process.
A joint bench of Justices Sanju Panda and B K Mishra ordered: "During pendency of the writ petition, there is no bar for students to apply for admission into degree courses during the academic session 2012-13 by applications manually."
Higher education secretary Chandra Sekhar Kumar said, "We are looking into the matter and would make arrangements to act as per the court order as soon as possible."
The computer-based admission for Plus-III courses in different degree colleges in the state had already started on June 1.
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