Cash-strapped IIIT-Basara seeks to reduce number of seats

ADILABAD:  Steeped in financial duress, the executive committee of the Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge and Technologies (RGUKT), Basara, has written to the State government seeking permission to cut down the number of seats from 1,500 to 1,000 for the 2021-22 academic year.Expecting a favourable decision, the RGUKT, also known as IIIT-Basara, in a departure from regular practice, issued a notification for admission to the university, without revealing the number of seats available.

According to sources, the reason for seeking a cut in the number of seats is the university’s inability to wriggle itself out of the financial straitjacket it has been in. “We cannot provide infrastructure to 1,500 students. In fact, the available infrastructure is enough for only 1,000 students. Over a period of time, the number of seats had been increased to 1,500 but there was no commensurate improvement in infrastructure,” an official said.

The university was inaugurated in 2008 with 1,000 seats. But as the years went by, the number of seats went up to 1,500 and even reached 2,000. Later, after the demand for seats fell, the number came down to 1,500.Apart from a fund crunch, there are also few takers for IIIT-Basara seats. After the division of the State in 2014, students from AP did not show much interest in the university and the 15 per cent quota for AP remained unfilled for several years. 

The institute offers a six-year integrated course after SSC. This year, the institute faced a piquant situation as, due to Covid-19, all students were promoted with a GPA of 10. The institute then decided to take students who get through TS Polycet, in which about 75,000 got eligibility. The institute has set August 12 as the last date for receipt of applications and will prepare the selection list on August 18, but it is not sure whether the list would be for 1,000 seats or 1,500 seats. “We are awaiting communication from the government,” a source said.