Authorities worried as over 490 PG seats remain vacant at Raiganj University

Raiganj: The Raiganj University in North Dinajpur district is facing a serious problem this academic year as 492 postgraduate (PG) seats remain vacant despite the completion of the centralised online admission process. According to university sources, this has prompted the authorities to seek an extension in the admission deadline from the state Higher Education department for a special admission drive.

University officials reported that the admission process for undergraduate courses continued from June 18 to October 21 through the Higher Education department’s centralised portal and the university’s own system.

Even after the completion of the lengthy process, around 800 seats in UG remained vacant. The situation is no better at the postgraduate level, where only 738 students enrolled out of 1,230 available seats.

A particular cause of worry for the authorities is the low turnout in science disciplines. Departments like physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and Botany failed to attract the expected number of students.

The condition is even more alarming in computer science and sericulture. Out of 40 seats in computer science, only five could be filed, while the sericulture department managed to enrol just two students against 31 available seats.

University authorities are yet to identify the specific reasons behind students’ apathy toward the science and vocational courses. However, they hope that an extended admission window might help fill at least some of the vacant seats in the coming days. Speaking about the issue, Registrar Durlav Sarkar said: “492 seats in postgraduate courses remain vacant after the closing of admission.

Admission in humanities is satisfactory, but several seats in the science stream, including physics, chemistry, mathematics and botany, are still remain vacant. Computer science and sericulture have also failed to attract students.”

“With the consent of the university’s Postgraduate Admission Committee, we have sent a letter to the state Higher Education department seeking permission to extend the admission deadline. If allowed, we will launch a special drive for a few days to enrol more students,” he added.