– Mita Mukherjee

The much-awaited centralised admission portal for admission to undergraduate general degree courses in Bengal’s state- aided colleges is finally set to start functioning from June 18, over a month after the announcement of Class XII board results.

A state higher education department notification said on Friday that first year classes for the 2025-26 session in nearly 7000 courses in 460 colleges and 17 universities in the state is set to begin on August 1.

More than a month-long delay in the admission process has left colleges and universities anxious about several seats remaining vacant as private institutions in the state have started admitting students immediately after the announcement of the Class XII board examination results.

The private and minority institutions, not covered under the centralised admission process have already closed their admission window and many state college heads said they could lose out bright and meritorious students as many students have already enrolled in private and autonomous colleges.

The admissions in the state-aided colleges were held up this year because of delay on the part of the state government in finalising the OBC reservation in state-aided universities.

In May 2025, the Calcutta High Court struck down the existing formula for OBC reservation which prompted the state government to revise it. But the revised formula is subject to approval of the Supreme Court where the state has challenged the High Court order. The state cabinet has approved the new system only a few days ago.

The centralised online admission portal was launched last year and many state colleges had said that four out of nearly nine lakh seats in state-run and state-aided colleges had remained vacant because of the late start of the admissions.

“Prospective students have not only took admissions in the private institutions in Bengal. A large number of bright students have also moved to institutions in other states where the admissions have started much earlier,” said the principal of a college in Kolkata.

The state government had launched the centralised admission process last year to provide a single-window to facilitate the admission process, enabling students to select their preferred courses in their desired colleges through a single online platform and ensure that they are not required to take admissions multiple times. The new system also aimed to prevent students booking seats in multiple colleges As a result of multiple booking, many seats in most colleges remained vacant.

According to Friday’s notification, students seeking admission for the 2025- 26 session can submit applications until July 1.

The entire process starting from submission of application, publication of merit list, counselling and the final entry of the student in a college will be held online and eligible candidates will be informed through SMS and e-mail at every step. 

The notification made it clear that students should not be called for counselling or verification of documents during the admission process.

Physical presence of students on campuses during the admissions had to be stopped because of wide-spread complaints of corruption during students’ entry.

There were allegations that students’ bodies controlled by ruling parties would deny admission to deserving students to favour undeserving students who struck a deal with them.

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