EAMCET-2014, New features make process cumbersome

The AP State Council of Higher Education on Tuesday announced the schedule of EAMCET process which has mentioned certain new features that can make the entire process somewhat cumbersome.

A high-level CET committee finalised the new changes, which were introduced to curb fake applications and also bring more transparency in the admission process.

he state government, which drew flak for not being able to cut down to size the errant and litigant private engineering colleges, on the other hand, has brought changes in the name of ‘precautions’.

“This is necessary. You know for certain things to happen, some changes have to be made. We are confident that these changes will do good for the student community,” Prof L Venugopala Reddy, convener of EAMCET told The Hans India.

The EAMCET notification will formally be released on February 10. The commencement of online submission of applications will start on February 20 and the last date will be April 4.

As announced earlier, the EAMCET engineering exam will be held on May 17 from 10 am to 1 pm where as the medical stream exam will be in the afternoon of the same day from 2.30 pm to 5.30 pm. The ranks will be declared on June 2.

“This schedule is subject to slight change in accordance with the schedule of general elections. If there is any clash of the exam date, we may have to change it. But we presume that the elections may be over by May 10 itself. Let’s wait and see,” Prof Reddy added.

The OMR answer sheets, which will be appeared in a modified form this year, will be put on website after the declaration of ranks. Candidates have to mark the answers with blue and black pen only failing which their answer sheets will not be evaluated.

The CET committee has also announced the increase in helpline centres (HLC). There will be 38 centres this time and the aspirants who cannot apply online on their own can approach HLCs. But the centres (HLCs) play a key role after the declaration of ranks as the successful rankers have to approach these centres for making web options (choosing of course of study and college). Earlier, candidates were freely allowed to do it on their own, at their homes or internet cafes. This time, they have to do it at the HLCs only. The rankers should select the HLC as well beforehand and it was also made mandatory. It has to be mentioned in the application form. Four more HLCs were included in Hyderabad city this year, making the total to eight.

“Candidates should mention the name of the parent or guardian whom he/she will be taking inside the HLCs during the admission process. The candidates have to upload the photo of the parent as well. No change in this regard will be allowed,” Prof NV Ramana Rao told media.

Aadhaar card details too have to be mentioned in the application but it was not mandatory. The SSC details are a must, according to Ramana Rao. “This time, the candidates should mention the birth state, birth district, study details and intermediate study details in the application form. Earlier this was not there. We made this column to include more authority and transparency and also curb the equivalency certificates basing on which some colleges have made admissions,” an official said.

To arrest the rampant loading of fake applications, the EAMCET technical committee brought in two key changes i.e. putting a watermark on the application sheet. A unique barcode will also be there which would be random and unpredictable. Though a provision of barcode was there earlier, it was same as the EAMCET registration number which was predictable in many cases.

The fee for the test remains same as last year i.e. Rs 250. “In fact, AP engineering exam fee is less than any other state,” Prof Ramana Rao said. The registration fee can be made through AP Online, E-Seva and Mee Seva centers in Andhra Pradesh.

There will be no upper age limit for the applicants. The number of applicants, which was 3.96 lakh in both streams last year, may go up this year and likely to be around 4.10 lakh since the increase in Intermediate candidates.

The qualifying percentage of marks in the test is 25 per cent of the maximum marks of EAMCET. However, for candidates belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, there is no minimum qualifying marks prescribed. Even if they get zero marks, they can have a chance to get seat through 25 per cent weightage marks of Intermediate.

Like last year, there will be separate merit list for supplementary pass outs and their admissions will be taken up only after the general list is over.