PU’s online admission claims fall flat

Ishrat S Banwait

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 27

Panjab University’s claim that admissions this year will be made paperless seem to have fallen flat. Even though the online admission system is in place, students are being asked to submit the admission forms physically. The university had engaged a Bhopal-based company to build a cloud- server based website for online admissions.

The PU had claimed that this website is best in the region and the student will not need to come to the university for submitting the application forms. However, it has not happened, the basic purpose of the website has been defeated. Already, students are to carry all their original certificates at the time of counselling even though they are allowed to upload the same online.

The PU has slashed the cost of the admission form from Rs 500 to Rs 300 this year and out of this Rs 150 will go to the Bhopal-based company. However, with the website not serving its basic purpose, this is a major loss for the university as well as the students.

Dean University (Instructions) Meenakshi Malhotra said, “This is just a precautionary measure as it is the first year of the website.” However, students informed that there are problems while choosing options and selecting subjects. Sources inform that the PU does not trust the website enough and fears that mistakes may creep into the online system.

The only benefit for the website now remains that candidates have the option of paying their fee online. Also, the university had claimed that candidates will receive an SMS and e-mail alerts at every step of the admission process.

Fact file 

The university has slashed the cost of the admission form from Rs 500 to Rs 300 this year and out of this Rs 150 will go to the Bhopal-based company. However, with the website not serving its basic purpose, this is a major loss for the university as well as the students..