Hazra: Students who have "managed" admission to colleges could have trouble getting university registration, education minister Partha Chatterjee said on Tuesday.

Registration is the process that enables a student to write a university examination.

"I warn those who have not been admitted on the basis of merit. I will go through the list of students admitted to each college. I will scan the merit lists from the first to the last and also look at the applicants' marks," Chatterjee said at a programme to mark the 103rd foundation day of Asutosh College.

"If I find anyone with less than the required marks has managed to get admission, we will probe and take a call to decide whether they will be able to register with the university... This is not only true of Asutosh College, but all colleges," he said.

Asked about the threat to refuse registration, Chatterjee said: "We are holding discussions on this. The university's syndicate will take action."

The minister's warning came in the wake of allegations that some Trinamul student leaders were taking money and offering easy admission to undeserving students.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee had turned up unannounced at Asutosh College recently and spoken to the authorities, students and guardians, promising action against those found demanding money for admission.

The same day, minister Chatterjee had visited three colleges to take stock of the cash-for-admission allegations.

Chatterjee had said last month that 134 colleges would have to send admission details to their affiliating universities every day and the universities would have to forward the same online to the higher education department. The directive was aimed at ensuring that colleges admit students only on the basis of merit and do not exceed their intake limit.

Allegations have poured in despite the threats of a possible crackdown by the minister.

Chatterjee said he was pained by the cash-for-admission allegations. "I don't like it when I come across allegations of students taking admission in exchange of money. When we were student leaders, we would just request the principal Sir, to see if students with less than the required score could be admitted. But never did we come across allegations of students seeking Rs 20,000 to secure admission. When I hear such allegations about Asutosh College as carried by the media, I really feel pained. Why should this happen? Merit should be the only criterion," he said.

The minister held at a press conference at the college gate, where he asked the university to admit students against vacancies till August 20. The initial deadline had been July 6, which was extended to July 10 following a request from the government.

"Calcutta University officials have said honours seats have remained vacant in several colleges. Seats in the reserved category too have remained vacant. No seats can be left vacant," Chatterjee said.