The agitation for a separate Telangana state is having a fallout on Andhra Pradesh’s educational institutions. Wary of disruptions due to shutdowns and bandhs, students are staying away from engineering colleges in parts of the state.
At the end of the first phase of engineering admissions on October 4, of the 1.82 lakh seats on offer, 55,000 had not been taken. The second phase of admissions for another 88,000 seats started on October 5 but officials don’t expect more than 15,000 to be taken.
Colleges located in and around Hyderabad, Vijayawada and other hotspots of the agitation have been affected the most.
Higher Education Department officials say that earlier colleges would have a mix of students from Telangana, coastal and Rayalaseema districts. But students this time are preferring to take admission in their native districts or region they belong to, thereby leaving a huge number of vacancies in colleges in other regions.
So, while colleges in and around Hyderabad and Telangana region are a strict no no for students from other regions, coastal districts like Vizianagaram, Srikakulam, Prakasam, Nellore and Chittoor, which escaped bandhs declared by united-Andhra supporters, are a favourite now.
According to the Andhra Pradesh State Council of Higher Education, a majority of the 350 engineering colleges in and around Hyderabad, which had been hit by Telangana protests, have been affected.
Those who can afford are opting for management quota seats in neighbouring states like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala.
Confirming the huge number of vacant seats, Dr M D Christopher, Secretary, State Council of Higher Education, points out that last year, at the end of the first phase of counselling, only 4,632 seats of 1.80 lakh seats on offer had not been taken.
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