Special Round : Detailed Statistics

At the end of the special round that concluded on Tuesday, only 195 seats are vacant in NITs, IIITs and other government-funded technical institutions. The Central Seat Allocation Board (CSAB) filled over 95% of the 5,550 vacant seats in these central institutes after receiving 1.5 lakh applications. Officials claimed that it was probably the least seats ever vacant in NITs and other institutes covered under the CSAB. 

For the first time, IITs and NITs held a joint seat allocation process this year for admissions. While IITs filled most seats by the end of the third round, NITs and other central institutes had around 5,550 vacant seats after four rounds. To fill the vacancies, the ministry of human resources & development decided to conduct a special round. After a preliminary analysis by NITs, officials felt that having a withdrawal option after every round in the joint process would have probably helped reduce the vacancies. 

Asok De, director of NIT-Patna and chairman of CSAB, said, "This year, since the withdrawal option was not available, many students allotted seats (not first choices) still took admission and blocked it till the fourth round. Later, when they got admission elsewhere, in state institutes or other leading ones, they left it." De added that if students were allowed to withdraw, these seats would have been available for students in subsequent rounds. But, he added, this is a preliminary observation and the Joint Seat Allocation Authority (JoSAA) will have to study the repercussions of providing the withdrawal option before recommending it in its report. 

Of the 1.5 lakh students registered for the special round, only 2,300 were new; the others were also part of the four rounds of JoSAA and did not take seats for many reasons. Two of the 67 institutes which were part of CSAB refused to participate in the special round. "The 195 seats are vacant only because no student applied for them. The first joint seat allocation process was successful this year," said De. 

After the four rounds of JoSAA, NITs and other central technical institutes had filled 17,793 seats. Of these, 14,072 students did not opt for a change in seat after allocation, while 3,621 opted for a better option. Around 1,400 students chose to opt for other programmes in the institute allotted, while over 2,200 opted for other programmes in other institutes. 

Source: TOI

Special Round: CSAB modifies rules

 In a move to fill up 5,550 vacant seats in NITs, IITs and other government-funded technical institutions (GFTIs), and to give a 'fair' chance to meritorious students, the Central Seat Allocation Board (CSAB) on Wednesday extended the deadline for an additional special round till August 17. 

While earlier only students not allotted a seat in the joint allocation process were allowed to register, the CSAB is now allowing all who have JEE (Main) ranks and are without seats to apply. Many parents and students alleged that allowing students who have already been given a chance is unfair to the others. 

The CSAB on August 7 announced the conduct of an additional special round to fill vacant seats in the central institutes, of the 23,919 seats. Of the 5,550 seats vacant, around 3,100 are in NITs alone; some are in sought-after institutes, such as in Surathkal, Warangal and Patna. While most seats are vacant in unpopular courses, many in popular ones, such as computer science and engineering, mechanical, electrical and civil are also empty, which is the bone of contention for many aspirants. The August 11 deadline for admissions through the additional round has been extended to August 17. 

NIT-Patna director and CSAB chairman Asok De said the board had received nearly 10,000 applications in the three-day window for the special round initially. "We have been getting requests from groups of students. Some claimed that they have missed out on a seat as they were unaware of business rules in the first-time joint process," he said. Since there are requests from students, De said the centre decided to open the additional round for all. "There is no harm if admissions are done on the basis of merit and all students get a chance," he added. 

But parents are up in arms against the board for allowing students who have got one chance to secure their seats. CSAB's Facebook page was flooded with students crying foul over the revised rules updated on Tuesday night. "They cannot change rules so many times. When in the beginning they said that students who have not locked their seats will not get another chance, what is the point in opening the admission process to all now?" asked a parent. Another said, "Students who may have willingly not taken the seat before will block the seat again for students who were genuinely not allotted one in the joint admission rounds. It is unfair and unethical." 

Source: TOI

Instead of SPOT a Special Round announced for NIT/IIIT admissions

 In a relief to engineering aspirants, the central seat allocation board will conduct a special admission round to fill vacant seats in National Institutes of Technology, Indian Institutes of Information Technology and other government-funded technical institutes. 

The round will call for fresh registration from aspirants who have taken JEE-2015, but could not register earlier for a seat. Close to 3,000 seats are vacant across these national institutes and the special round will follow the same norms of reservation. "We will open registration and all students who were earlier not allotted a seat, can apply," said NIT-Patna director Asok De, also the chairman of the CSAB. 

CSAB-2015 uses the All India Rank drawn up on the basis of 60% marks of JEE Main and 40% of class 12 or equivalent marks after normalization. This year, there was a fundamental faux in admission to elite Indian engineering colleges which resulted in over 3,000 spots lying vacant at the end of the admission process. Without an exit clause, a bunch of students are stuck with seats they don't want to join, and another lot who want to sign up at these colleges but cannot do so. 

Moreover, IITs and NITs will refund the acceptance fee after deducting a small processing charge in case a student did not take admission. Aspirants had to pay a non-refundable seat acceptance fee of Rs 45,000 for the general category and Rs 20,000 for the SC/ST category. Now, refund will be granted to students if they have surrendered their seat before the commencement of the admission session. The HRD ministry has urged IITs and NITs to "return the fee after taking minimalistic processing fee". 

JoSAA: Spot Round Decision to be taken tomorrow

Decision about vacant seat in NITs, IIITs and GFTIs will be taken in the meeting of JoSAA which is scheduled on 1st August 2015. Interested candidates may visit JoSAA web site (josaa.nic.in)/CSAB web site (csab.nic.in) after 1st August 2015

This is the message appearing on JoSAA site.

As Per news report in TOI
A total of 184 seats remain vacant after the last round of admission in the NITs/IIITs and 18 other government-funded technical institutes. While admissions have come to a close, authorities will soon decide whether to have a round of spot admissions at individual institutes or close the admission process. 

Several students have written to the JoSAA to surrender their seats and demanded their acceptance fee of Rs 45,000 be refunded, but the authorities have, so far, remained silent on their pleas. According to the rules, a student who accepts a seat has to pay a fee for the same. Later, if the student gets a better option elsewhere and pulls out of the admission process, the fee is not refunded. 

"We do have some seats that are vacant because students did not report to the institute. We plan on discussing the matter on refund of acceptance fees as well as having a round of spot admissions," said a source. 

Meanwhile, students said they were looking at the option of taking legal recourse if their fees were not refunded. "The sum we have paid is not petty change. Why then must they not refund it? The authorities can cut some administrative costs and refund the rest," said a parent.