English, zoology, psychology, and mass communication are some of the subjects students seek the most in the centralised online admission process for undergraduate courses in West Bengal colleges. On the other hand, Sanskrit, philosophy, and economics received the fewest number of applications.
College principals in the city have reported that the newly launched centralised admission portal has led to a significant increase in student applications. Following the release of the first merit list on July 12, the majority of available seats have already been filled.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Gokhale Memorial Girls’ College (GMGC) principal Atashi Karpha said the new admission process has eased the institution’s burden. “This definitely helped us in the admission process, which used to be tedious work as students had to stand in long queues to collect admission forms and submit them at a later date. The centralised online portal has solved this issue. So far, the response has been good. We have received most of the applications for English, psychology, history and geography,” said Prof Karpha.
Surendranath College principal Dr Indranil Kar said the institute had received about 48,000 applications against the capacity of 3,052 seats after the first round of the admission process. “This is a huge jump from the applications that we had received until last year. Admission to over 2,100 seats has already been completed (on July 16). Most applications have been received for English, Psychology, Journalism, Mass Communication, and BCom. In our college, the number of applicants is less for Sanskrit, philosophy and economics,” Prof Kar said.
Lady Brabourne College principal Siuli Sarkar said, “Sociology, English, microbiology, and zoology remain the first choices among students who applied to our college. So far, the response has been good, and we are hopeful that all seats will be filled.”
New Alipore College principal Dr Jaydeep Sarangi said, “We are very happy with the system. Many students have been motivated to apply for undergraduate courses from faraway places. Zoology, English, journalism and mass communication, and anthropology are the most sought-after subjects by the students. The subjects that have yet to see a surge in applications are Sanskrit and philosophy.”
Asutosh College principal Manas Kabi told the newspaper that the college received about 60,000 applications for 3,380 seats. “Admission to over 1000 seats is already over. English, psychology, zoology, journalism, and mass communication are front-runners in terms of getting applications. The least number of applications came for Sanskrit,” said Kabi.
On June 19, the state government launched a ‘centralised admission portal’ in various state government colleges and universities. The portal has been developed for admission to 7,230 undergraduate courses in government and government-aided institutions, including 16 universities, 461 colleges and a few other higher education institutions across West Bengal.
Education Minister Bratya Basu last week announced that in the first phase, 34,73,210 applications for various subjects in multiple colleges were received from 5,27,781 candidates, 2,99,800 of whom are females. About 98,089 applications were received from candidates based outside Bengal.
The second merit list for the first-phase admission process—which was completed on July 7—will be published on July 23. An up-gradation round or second-phase online admission process will commence on August 8.
Seth Anandram Jaipuria College principal Nandita Sen Chakraborty said, “Admission to over 1,500 seats has been completed out of a total of 2,496 seats. philosophy and economics are two subjects getting inadequate responses from the applications. English, political science, journalism, and mass communication remain the most favourites among students,” said Prof Chakraborty.
Within the deadline, students need to report to the allotted college for document verification and payment of prescribed fees, etc and confirm the admission in the allotted Junior College. (Express Archives) 
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