Students at an OJEE nodal centre in Bhubaneswar on Sunday. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar/ Cuttack, July 28: Over 25,000 engineering seats have been left vacant in various engineering colleges across the state at the end of the second round of Odisha JEE counselling.

Official statistics showed only 3,179 candidates selected for admission to more than 28,000 engineering seats during the four-day counselling session at eight nodal centres in the twin cities. There are 45,677 seats in 90-odd engineering colleges of the state, of which around 17,000 had been filled up in the first phase of counselling.

OJEE officials said a decision about a subsequent round of counselling had not been taken yet.

Similarly, over 5,700 seats in MBA and 2,500 seats in MCA have fallen vacant. As far as medical counselling is concerned, all seats have found takers in government colleges while a handful have gone abegging in private institutions, which have an overall intake of 300.

A second round of counselling based on guidelines of Medical Council of India would be conducted to fill up the vacancies.

On the other hand, as a large number of engineering seats go unfilled, the future of 10 per cent of seats in private technical institutions hangs in balance owing to legal tangles over management quota in addition to NRI seats.

The dispute centres on non-allocation of seats in the private institutions under management quota besides five per cent NRI quota by the state government this year.

The Biju Patnaik University of Technology has drawn up an academic calendar which requires that admissions be completed by July-end and classes commence from August 1. But on July 6, Orissa High Court directed the state government to conduct counselling for admission for 90 per cent seats in private engineering colleges.

The court, while issuing the interim order, said the future of remaining 10 per cent seats would depend on the final outcome of the writ petition filed by Odisha Private Engineering College Association (Opeca).

On July 26, the single judge bench of Justice B.N. Mohapatra closed hearing and reserved judgment on Opeca’s plea.

The OJEE Committee had stipulated that “five per cent of seats within sanctioned intake are available only to institutions/ colleges those who have got approval for NRI seats from All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE)”.

Opeca sought intervention against non-allocation of management quota seats in addition to five per cent seats on the ground that the committee did not follow the court order for admissions in private colleges last year. The state government had contended that the committee was only following AICTE guidelines.

Opeca secretary Binod Dash said the association’s basic contention was that Orissa High Court had in a ruling related to admissions last year earmarked 15 per cent of the total intake of private engineering colleges as management quota and NRI quota seats.

Of the 15 per cent seats, the court in its verdict had given private engineering colleges the liberty to fill up 10 per cent seats under management quota by conducting their respective counselling, but under OJEE committee’s supervision.

“However, the committee had not allotted any seats under management quota in addition to five per cent NRI quota. So, more seats will remain vacant,” Dash said.