NEET paper leak to delay engg, pharmacy college admissions in Maha

Mahiyar PatelMumbai: The NEET paper leak is set to delay admissions and the start of the academic year for engineering and pharmacy colleges in Maharashtra. State minister for higher and technical education Chandrakant Patil said on Wednesday that admissions for nine engineering branches and 15% pharmacy seats reserved under the all-India quota are dependent on NEET scores, meaning the process cannot proceed until the re-examination is conducted and fresh results are declared.He made these remarks while announcing a slew of measures aimed at tightening regulation of college fee collection and expansion of financial relief for girl students pursuing higher education.Patil’s department said colleges will no longer be allowed to collect separate charges under multiple heads such as development fees and laboratory fees. Instead, all mandatory charges will now be merged under a single “fee” category regulated by the Fee Regulatory Authority. The move is expected to ensure that girls from families earning below Rs 8 lakh annually receive the full benefit of the govt’s 100% fee waiver scheme without colleges levying additional charges under other heads.The higher education admission calendar faces uncertainty because of the NEET controversy, and Patil spoke about it. The nine BTech branches for which NEET scores are accepted are agricultural engineering, biotechnology, food engineering, leather technology, packaging technology, pharmaceutical engineering, printing engineering, fashion technology and textile chemistry. In addition, 15% pharmacy seats in the state are filled through NEET under the national quota.Patil said the Common Entrance Test (CET) cell had planned to begin Centralised Admissions Process (CAP) rounds by the end of June after scheduling PCM (Physics-Chemistry-Maths) and PCB (Physics-Chemistry-Biology) CET results with only a marginal delay compared to last year despite conducting two entrance tests this year. “But because of the NEET scam, the planning of the CET Cell and the higher and technical education department has gone awry,” he said.According to the National Testing Agency’s revised schedule, the NEET re-examination will now be held on June 21, making it unlikely that results would be declared before mid-July. Patil said engineering admissions cannot begin by excluding NEET-linked branches because many students who underperform in NEET later shift to engineering if they have also appeared for PCM CET.The minister also said colleges will now have to prominently display complete fee structures on notice boards to prevent hidden or fragmented fee collection. While tuition and mandatory academic fees for eligible girls will be fully waived, optional facilities such as hostel accommodation, transport and swimming pools will continue to be charged separately.The state is also planning to introduce a ‘Learn and Earn’ initiative under which educational institutions and universities would ensure monthly financial support of Rs 2,000 for needy girl students through campus work or placements in local banks and primary health centres. Officials are also considering a tracking mechanism to monitor disbursal of funds.