Hike 20 % seats for undergraduate studies: govt to LU

“We don’t have the infrastructure but we will see what can be done once the university reopens on Friday,” said UN Dwivedi,Vice-Chancellor of the university.

The affiliated colleges,however,have some room to maneuver with the order. “If any affiliated college has a problem of infrastructure,the vice-chancellor of the university has the discretion to lower the percentage of seats. But the university will have to increase the seats by 20 per cent,” said VK Gupta,Special Secretary,Higher Education.

Since the counselling for the first-year session is already over,the faculty now fear that the university will have to go for fresh counselling.

“This order should have come earlier. Many students have already taken admission in self-financed course because of non-availability of seats. Now lower rank students will be getting a better combination,which is unfair,” said

Professor Maulindu Mishra,President of Lucknow University Affiliated Colleges’ Teachers’ Association.

The vice-chancellor plans to call a meeting of the admission committee on Friday to discuss the matter.

The government has taken the decision as more than 2 lakh students have passed this year’s school examination. “With 80 per cent of the students clearing the board examinations,we have to create seats for students who want to pursue their higher education,” said Gupta. On the other hand, while 3,000 teachers post are lying vacant,the contract of ad-hoc teachers has been cancelled,said Mishra. “How will the government ensure quality of education with such scarcity?” he said.