Bhubaneswar, Jan. 4: With the state government’s policy planning board failing to arrive at any conclusive decision regarding the architecture branch of the College of Engineering and Technology (CET), admission into course continue to remain stalled.

“No decision could be taken on the CET architecture seats. It will be further discussed in the next board meeting,” said JEE vice-chairman Sitaram Mohapatra.

Although admission into all other professional courses commenced immediately after the JEE counselling in August 2011, admissions into the architecture seats in CET were held up following a legal case between the state government and a private college offering architecture course.

While the state government remains adamant on not to adhere to the Council of Architectures’ (CoA) direction of taking student on the basis of the National Aptitude Test in Architecture (NATA) and instead take students on the basis of JEE ranking, the indefinite delay has been frustrating for students waiting for admission.

With the authorities showing no interest in pursuing the case, students who had been waiting to take admission into CET have been forced to join other branches and colleges.

“Over 3,000 students applied for the college this year. Until last month, there were a lot of queries coming in from parents and students but the numbers have slowly come down. Most of them have joined other colleges,” said a senior faculty at the CET.

While the CET authorities have not been able to fill up their 40 seats, the Ajay Binay Institute of Technology (ABIT) -Piloo Mody College of Architecture, the only private institution offering the course, has gone ahead with its admissions for all its 200 seats.

“The same problem had cropped up last year and after the much delayed counselling, only 17 out of the total 40 seats could be filled up. This year, the delay has been even more,” said CET principal P.K. Hota.

“Getting a seat at CET is a dream for many aspiring candidates of the state and the college used to get the best among the lot but with the current situation the private colleges are reaping the benefits,” said a faculty member.

The situation has invited a lot of criticism from all sections. Speaking to The Telegraph, a senior architect said: “Either the state government should make it mandatory that students should be taken through JEE and ensure that there is no stay or it should allow the ABIT to take students through NATA. Why is the government so adamant and then so easy going about the case? It is nothing but depriving students from choosing their right to decide on their subject.”