Protests by students and guardians on Monday forced the West Bengal University of Technology (WBUT) to scrap its merit list of candidates who had qualified in its common entrance test (CET).

This is the first time the university had come out with a merit list. Introduced in 2006, the CET is held for admitting students to various professional courses offered by WBUT such as bachelors in business administration, computer applications, hospitality management, travel and tourism management, risk management and retail chain management. This year, the tests were held in five rounds.

A large number of students and their guardians held demonstrations in front of the university in Salt Lake on Monday, demanding that all students who had appeared for the CET be admitted.

“Till last year, whoever sat for the CET was allowed to take admission. The university should have informed us about the merit list well in advance because those who do not find a place on the merit list may now find it difficult to get a seat in the general degree colleges as admissions to these institutions have already closed,” said a student.

There are nearly 16,000 seats in the 120 private institutions under WBUT and the CET is held in several rounds till all the seats are filled.

The students said since they were not aware that a merit list would be announced this year, many of those who had appeared in the first and second rounds of the CET have already taken admission paying fees in the range of Rs 40,000 to Rs 80,000.

“The university did not inform us about any merit list. So, we began the process of admitting students who appeared for the CET,” said an official of a college under WBUT.

“We wanted to introduce a merit list to check the practice of charging high fees in exchange of seats by some colleges. We were slightly late in finalising the merit list this time. We cancelled the list in the interest of students,” said vice-chancellor Sabyasachi Sengupta.

The university is firm about announcing the merit list next year. “The list will also help us ensure that colleges take only deserving candidates,” said an official.