The state government is assessing the feasibility of opening new colleges because undergraduate seats in existing colleges have remained vacant in large numbers in recent years, education minister Bratya Basu said in the Assembly on Tuesday.
The minister was speaking during the question-answer session when Trinamul MLA Ashok Deb urged him to open a new college in his Budge Budge Assembly constituency.
“Last year, over four lakh out of nine lakh undergraduate seats remained vacant. Before opening colleges, I would urge you to take steps so students are admitted to colleges. We are committing a lot of resources to create the facilities. But the seats have remained vacant. So, before opening new colleges, we have to assess,” Basu said in response to Deb’s appeal.
According to the minister, one reason why so many general degree seats remained vacant in government and government-aided colleges was that many students now preferred professional courses.
Basu later told reporters in his chamber in the Assembly: “We have a plan to rationalise the number of seats. By this, we can allot more seats to colleges where there is demand.”
Last year, the higher education department started a centralised admission portal at the undergraduate level to contain the problem of vacant seats.
Till then, the colleges would admit students through their own standalone portals.
The centralised portal put a lid on allegations of corruption in college admissions, but it did not achieve the objective of reducing the number of vacant seats.
After college admissions were completed through centralised counselling in September last year, Basu had said his department would reassess the number of undergraduate seats offered by colleges and re-evaluate the actual demand among aspirants.
Metro reported on October 3, 2024 that many seats remained vacant in colleges even after the institutes conducted independent counselling to fill seats that were vacant after the centralised process conducted by the education department.
In November 2024, the department asked the colleges to hold another round of independent counselling. But the situation hardly improved.
“We must reassess the seat count based on what we have experienced over the past three years. However, some colleges have been demanding an increase in intake. So, we have to make a comparative and balanced assessment,” said an education department official.
Last updated on 12 Mar 2025
