Kolkata: The state higher education department on Wednesday evening deferred the launch of a portal for the decentralized undergraduation admission, hours after announcing its opening from Thursday. After three rounds of admissions through the centralised admission portal (CAP), more than 5 lakh UG seats still remain vacant at state-aided institutes in Bengal.This is the first time that the department will open an online portal, where candidates will have to submit their applications for the decentralised process, to be monitored centrally. The department on Aug 31 issued an order, stating the process would roll out on Thursday, and college principals were informed about it. But on Wednesday evening, fresh instructions were sent out to degree college coordinators that the decentralised process had been “deferred until further notice”.The principal of a reputable college said, “We were getting ready for the launch of the new portal, but now we have to wait for further orders. This will delay filling seats.”Higher education department officials could not be reached to clarify the reason behind the last-minute change.Of the total 8.5 lakh UG seats at 460 institutes, 4 lakh seats have so far been allocated through the centralised admission portal (CAP) and 3.8 lakh students have taken their admission through the first three rounds.Earlier, the decentralised admissions were conducted by individual colleges but with the decentralised portal being readied, the institutes no longer have to activate their own admission portals. The notice issued by the state higher education department had stated that even for the decentralised process, once the portal was launched, candidates did not need to be physically present for application or initial selection.
