Engineering colleges 'hunt' for students in Andhra

07 September, 2012

Due to the tough time and competition Engineering colleges have in getting the students to take admission, they have started 'pulling' the students into their colleges. The management of some of these colleges in Andhra Pradesh is 'hunting' to grab students for their colleges. They are doing so in a highly clandestine manner by offering Rs. 2000/- to each candidate, and in the process, the student gives away the ICR (the registration form) and the scratch card to the college management.

THESE CORPORATE colleges begIn their looting operation a fortnight before the starting date of EAMCET verification process in Andhra Pradesh. A team of 2-5 persons will start enquiring the students who have completed their intermediate education in nearby towns of their college. Most of the students they choose are poverty stricken and ill-informed students on the ‘counseling procedure’ of EAMCET, and ignorant of choosing colleges through web options.

The students, fearful whether they would get seat in a reputed college or not because of their low rank - some are ranked 1,00,000 and above - and unaware of the vast number of seats being empty, are falling prey to these colleges. In the name of fuelling the dreams of the aspirants, the college management 'procure' a good score of students. They (college management or middlemen) make a written and signed agreement on an undated letter with the student, and take away the required certificates (TC, Caste, 10 and +2 marks memos along with Income certificate all in original) in a ‘grease the palm’ method. Here, the student gives away all the certificates of requirement for 'counseling' to the College before his/her date of registration.

This is like an advance booking for the student. On the date of verification and registration, the college management or the middle men of the college will arrive at the verification center and handover the certificates to the students just 5 minutes before the entry into the verification hall. After the completion of the verification process, the candidate will be given an ‘ICR form’ (Registration form or Information Collect Request form) and a ‘scratch card’ by the verification officer.

The scratch card is the most important card in which a password exists and acts as a key to choose desired colleges in ‘web counseling’. Being unaware of these things, the students are handing over the scratch card and the ICR form to a particular college of their interest. After receiving the scratch card, the college can play with the lives and future of the naïve chaps - grabbing their independence of choosing interested colleges, and thus the students are becoming victims of the college development.

Sri Sai Educational Society’s group of Institutions (GATE school of Engineering and GATE school of Pharmacy) is the college in which I faced this problem at the EAMCET verification center. In a very organized way, they had mustered around 20–30 students on 6th of this month in government polytechnic college (EAMCET verification center), Nalgonda.

All the students are made to sit together in the backyard of the verification center, conscientiously, by 3-5 middlemen, and 1 HOD of the College. A serial number is allotted to every student on submission of the rank card and the candidates are called into the verification hall according to that serial number. The organized student troop is made to get the serial number in series. The original certificates were handed over to the students by the college management only when the student is about to enter the hall (i.e. 2 minutes before). One of the middlemen is roaming inside the verification hall checking their paid students to not to escape with the ICR form and scratch card. After the student exits the hall, the middlemen collect the scratch card and the ICR form from the students, exposing them to greater risks.

I found that the students are very worried until they join a college, and continuously raise doubts on their uncertain academic future. This sows panic and tempts the candidates. Eighty percent of the students that the above mentioned college had brought are ‘Scheduled Tribe’ students from the remote and interior ‘thanda’s (villages) around the college. A few of these students were technically ignorant about the benefits they have with their caste certificates. This can be said by the way they keep their caste certificates with them. Unlaminated and half torn - the plight of these students is lamentable.

The government is doing anything to check the frauds of the Engineering colleges. Due to lack of proper communication and industrial exposure to to far-flung villages on the EAMCET procedure, the students are turning to 'back doors', and are being misguided by tricksters.