Amid fee issue, EAMCET counselling postponed to Oct 11

HYDERABAD: Telangana State Council of Higher Education on Monday announced a revised schedule of Phase II counselling of Telangana State Engineering, Agriculture and Medical (TS EAMCET) exam. The process of counselling will now begin by October 11 postponed from its earlier date i.e. September 28.

According to the revised timetable, candidates can fill an online form, pay processing fees and book slots for selection of helpline centre on October 11 and 12. Certificate verification for already slot booked candidates will take place on October 12. Exercising options will be available on October 12 and October 13. Provisional allotment of seats are scheduled on October 16.

The decision to postpone the counselling has been taken amid the issue of fee fixation for the engineering colleges across the state. Last week, Telangana Admission and Fee Regulatory Committee reviewed the audit reports on the request of some colleges and found discrepancies  in it than what was submitted by them before. Notably, the committee reduced the fees for some colleges while for some the earlier fee was retained.

As a part of regular practice, TAFRC in July had given permission for the engineering colleges to increase their fee. Accordingly, Chaitanya Bharathi Institute of Technology had got the highest fee structure of `1.73 lakh per annum. Later, considering the situation created by Covid pandemic and criticisms from all sections of the society, the committee decided to retain the fee decided previously in 2019.

Seventy-nine colleges then approached the High Court in August order which allowed them to collect an increased fee asking them to refund the differential amount if they have collected more fees from the students than what was notified the TAFRC. To decide the fee issue and to present the new fee structure, the committee has been holding the meetings since Saturday. No decision has been announced so far from the committee.