Northeast Students miss Out On Varsities' Admissions

Hyderabad, Aug 1 : The violence in Assam has affected admissions even in city universities as students from the troubled areas of Bodo-Muslim conflict have missed out on admissions in varsities, including English and Foreign Languages University (Eflu) and University of Hyderabad (UoH). As transportation for most northeastern states is being channelled through Guwahati, students from Manipur and Nagaland are also affected by the trouble in Assam, officials said.

In University of Hyderabad, the population of northeastern students is around 400 while in Eflu it is just about 40. Interviews and written tests for Eflu and UoH courses had started in the beginning of this month, but the admission process for the final list of confirmed and waitlisted candidates started only last week as violence in Assam escalated. Many candidates, who had made it to the merit list of Eflu, have not been able to claim their seat, officials said.

Officials at Eflu said that they have tried their best to accommodate students who were facing trouble due to the tension. "One of the students who applied for a PhD was granted an extension as she faxed a letter stating that she was affected by the crisis and would like to take admission in the university later. The university gave her an extension of one week to report and saved her seat," said a senior officer from Eflu's admission and examination wing.

Assamese students of UoH said that a student who got seat in integrated M Tech/PhD course could not come for the admissions as she missed her train. "Now, most of the students are coming by flight so that they do not miss their chance to take admissions," said Debabrot, an M Tech student from the UoH, who hails from Assam. In UoH, officials said that no student has written to them citing tension in the state as the reason for their absence. However, the student organisations said that several cases have come to their notice in the last one week.

With the admissions getting over by the second week of August in both the universities, students who have not made it to the city so far will be forced to forfeit their seats for this academic year. Students' organisations in Eflu have asked the administration to slow down the admission process for students from these states as they also fall under the reserved ST category. "Before the admissions close the students should communicate the same to us," an official from EFLU said.

The off-state campus of Eflu in Shillong had deferred their admissions citing requests from students who were affected in the conflict. "We request the university officials to look into the matter and take the necessary steps to restore the lost seats to students from these states, especially Assam," said S Harinath, a student leader from the University of Hyderabad.