Calcutta University seeks information on colleges’ intake capacity in general courses

KOLKATA: Calcutta University has asked its affiliated college to provide information on the intake capacity for general courses. The missive came just weeks before admissions to undergraduate courses, setting off speculation that the university may now set an upper limit to the number of students who can be admitted.

Many principals feel the university can rejig the intake capacity in the honours and general courses, keeping in mind last year’s situation when several general course seats remained vacant despite several extensions. In a letter to all its 160 affiliated colleges, the university has sought a cumulative figure of intake capacity in humanities, science and commerce streams.

Till now, the university has specified the maximum number of students each affiliated college can admit in each honours course but has not set any limit for general courses. The move, feel principals, is an attempt to ensure that colleges do not buckle under pressure from students’ unions and admit candidates beyond their capacity. Last year, the state government had shifted the entire procedure online in the middle of the admission process to thwart any attempt by the unions to extort money from applicants.


A senior CU official said they did not even have any updated figures of seats in the general courses in affiliated colleges. “We do not have any current data on what the intake capacity of colleges in general courses is at present. At the time of affiliation, the university does specify the number of students a college can admit in honours and general courses but very few colleges follow it. Secondly, several colleges that are very old have expanded and upgraded their infrastructure but the university has no updated data on it. We have written to the colleges to send the updated figures in humanities, science and commerce,” said an official of the university.

A few years ago, Calcutta University had specified the maximum number of students each affiliated college could admit in honours course after several complaints of excess admissions reached the higher education department. Unions use the vast number of seats in the general courses to get their candidates admitted. Since colleges have far more seats in general courses than they have in honours courses, unions put pressure on colleges to admit several of their candidates. “Several students who have not done well fail to procure admission in the honours category. The unions extort money from them and get them admitted to general courses,” said principal of a north Kolkata college.

Last year, the higher education department extended the admission session till September because the seats could not be filled in many colleges. “There is a mismatch between the seats available in honours and general categories and the demand for them. The university can also rejig the seats in different subjects and categories so that so many seats are not wasted,” said another principal.