Based on the data provided by the 14 private universities in state, 3233 seats have been filled this year in undergraduate Engineering Programmes (B. Tech.) that is 53% of total capacity. In the previous year 3531 seats were filled.
To ensure transparency in the admission procedure, data was collected by the order of H.P. Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Commission from all 16 private Universities in state. However, two universities viz., Manav Bharti University, Solan and IEC University Baddi have not submitted the desired information to the Commission so far.
Secretary, Himachal Pradesh Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Commission, said that this was contrary to the reports in certain sections of the Press that admissions this year have come down drastically due to the introduction of JEE Mains and 65% in the qualifying examination as entrance criteria. In other States too such as Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala etc. the level of admissions in Engineering is similar that is approx. 50%. The range of admissions this year in Private Universities varies from a high of 91% to as low as 8% of the sanctioned intake but the majority have also averaged intakes of approx. 50% and above against their sanctioned intake. It is significant to note that this figure (53%) takes into account enhanced seats in the year 2013-14 which is 6040 as compared to 5450 seats that were available in the year 2012-13.
Secretary said that Universities which have fairly adequate faculty, comparatively better placement records and infrastructure have noticeably better admissions than other Universities. This is the first year that JEE Main was made mandatory for admission in B. Tech. Engineering courses and this will continue to be an essential criteria for admission in B. Tech. Programmes in future as well. In the long run using the JEE Main exam as admission criteria will ensure upward rate of admission as people from outside the State can also be attracted as has already been established in the case of certain universities.
