After admission confusion, now refund issue at NIT

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, September 11

After two months of confusion over changed admission process at Dr BR Ambedkar National Institute of Technology, now fee refund issue haunts the minds of B.Tech candidates and their parents who had participated in counselling but later left the seat to move to another institute.

The parents, who have had to shell out Rs 45,000 annual fee to secure a seat in the counseling, have been awaiting for a final clarification on whether they would get the refund or not. Since two bodies have held counseling to the institute and there were two sets of rules for admission and refund, the parents have been running around seeking a clarity on the issue now.

While the first part of counseling was conducted by Joint Seat Allocation Authority (JoSAA), the Central Seat Allotment Board (CSAB) had conducted the final spot admission last month. The JoSSA had specified that there was no provision of refund upon surrendering of a seat; the CSAB had kept the option open.

But a month after the counseling process was over, neither the students who had applied through JoSSA nor those coming via CSAB have got any refund, compounding their worries. The staff at the NIT said that they had been daily receiving calls from parents seeking information on how and when they would get a refund.

Rishab, a student from Nawanshahr, who had taken admission through JoSSA but later went to Punjab Engineering College, said, “My parents have had to shell out twice for securing the best seat for me. I have been trying to seek clarity on refund but so far the ambiguity remains”.

The admission staff at NIT has now asked the students who came via CSAB to seek a refund by logging onto their site and filling up the form with their bank details. “The CSAB has opened a link on the site for the purpose. The details have to be submitted before September 15 and refund will follow. There are about 80 such students who are eligible for the refund. With regards to JoSSA refund, there has so far been no further correspondence. Since they had said in the beginning that there would be no refund, it would most likely not come. There are several hundred such affected students”, the faculty shared.