SC asks TS to complete admissions by Aug 31

HYDERABAD: In a setback to Telangana, the Supreme Court Monday directed that counseling for admissions into engineering colleges in the state should be completed by August end.

On a petition by the state government seeking time till October end to complete the process of admissions, the apex court, in its interim orders, said the classes should start from first week of September.

A division bench observed that the bifurcation should not be allowed to affect the students, and advised both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh not to play politics with the future of students.

The final hearing in the case was adjourned to Aug 11. Ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) MP Vinod Kumar said the party government would react only after a final verdict is pronounced.

Welcoming the Supreme Court orders, the Andhra Pradesh government said at least now Telangana should allow Andhra Pradesh State Higher Education Council (APSCHE) to commence the counseling.

The Telangana government had sought more time for counseling for students who qualified in EAMCET (Engineering, Agriculture and Medical Common Entrance Test) on the ground that it lacked staff to ascertain nativity and other credentials of the students.

The Andhra Pradesh government opposed this saying the delay in counseling would affect the academic year of thousands of students.

Additional Advocate General of Andhra Pradesh Srinivas said he Supreme Court also observed that Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act 2014 should be followed on nativity and other issues.

The act says that common admission process and existing quotas in educational institutions in both the state shall continue for a period of 10 years.

The Telangana government had filed the petition after refusing to reimburse the fee of students from Andhra Pradesh studying in Hyderabad or other parts of Telangana. The TRS government has made it clear that it will not reimburse the fee of students whose parents were not residents of Telangana on Nov 1, 1956.

The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) government of Andhra Pradesh took strong objection to the condition, saying the Telangana government can't decide the nativity at its own whims and fancies.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu also offered to pay half of the fee of the students but his Telangana counterpart K. Chandrasekhar Rao rejected it saying Telangana will not reimburse fee of students of other states.

The row broke out between the two states deepened further last week when the APSCHE issued a notification to go ahead with the process of admissions in both the states.

The Telangana government, however, asked students to ignore the notification saying only it has the right to take up admissions in the colleges located in Telangana.

The Telangana government Saturday also constituted Telangana State Higher Education Council to pre-empt any move by the APSCHE to take up admissions in the state.