Row erupts over admission process for BBA programme

VADODARA: A fresh controversy surfaced at M S University over the process for admission in first year BBA programme offered by Faculty of Commerce.
A couple of parents approached MSU authorities objecting to the process of granting admission into the programme which has 180 seats.

The parents, who have made representation before MSU vice-chancellor professor Parimal Vyas, suggest that as per the prospectus issued by the university, all the admission to first year BBA programme were to be done based on merit.

The prospectus for the programme states that the merit list of all candidates who have applied for admission shall be finalised on the basis of performance of students at the entrance test comprising of written test, creative writing (extempore), group discussion (GD) and personal interview (PI).

While the weightage of written test was 60%, that of creative writing was 10% while GD and PI carried equal weightage of 15% each.

The aggrieved parents suggest that while the merit list was to be prepared based on the performance in all the four tests, the BBA programme officials on the basis of written test have issued a list of 562 shortlisted candidates who have been called for creative writing, GD and PI.

The parents have objected to this stating that all the 1,024 aspirants, who had appeared in the written test, should have been called for the other tests.

Also, it is alleged that the programme officials while announcing the list of shortlisted candidates did not even mention the marks obtained by the candidates in the written test.

The parents have threatened to move Gujarat High Court if the university fails to address their grievances.

Professor Dinkar Nayak, dean of Faculty of Commerce and programme director of BBA, however, told TOI that it is an unnecessary controversy being raked up. “The prospectus itself mentions that the total number of candidates that will be called for creative writing, GD and PI will be three times the total number of seats,” he said.

“We have not issued the merit list. We have issued the list of shortlisted candidates based on their performance in written test. This practice is being followed since last many years and there is no change this year,” he said.

“The candidates are shortlisted based on their performance in written test. If required, we will share results of all the students on our website. The results are provided by an external agency which is appointed by the highest authority,” he said. Nayak added that before two years, an aggrieved party had moved the Gujarat High Court challenging the process on similar grounds.

“The Gujarat High Court had dismissed the said petition and issued order in our favour,” he said.