Students, teachers oppose WBJEEB counselling restriction

Kolkata, Aug. 28 -- The West Bengal Joint Entrance Examinations Board's (WBJEEB) decision to bar students already admitted through the centralised counselling process from decentralised counselling has drawn opposition from students and teachers, who said the rule could deny higher-ranked candidates an opportunity to move to their preferred course or institution.

In its notification on Common Online Decentralised Counselling-2026, the WBJEEB said candidates who had accepted a seat and completed admission through centralised e-counselling would not be eligible for the decentralised process, which is being held to fill residual vacancies in engineering, technology, architecture and pharmacy programmes.

The Jadavpur University Teachers' Association (JUTA) questioned the merit basis of the restriction, saying a student who had accepted a seat could have a higher WBJEE rank than an unadmitted candidate. "The chance for upgradation should naturally go to them first," it said.

Sanatan Chattopadhyay of the Calcutta University Teachers' Association (CUTA) said the decision further undermined merit in higher education. "As a result, meritorious students will lose faith in the higher education system," he said.

JUTA also questioned whether students had been informed beforehand that accepting a seat would make them ineligible for decentralised counselling.

It claimed students who had already secured admission had been allowed to participate in the process in previous years.

The Nationalist Students' Front (NSF), Jadavpur University unit, has submitted a representation to the Higher Education Minister seeking reconsideration of the rule, saying students who took admission to avoid losing an academic year should not be denied an opportunity to compete for vacant seats on merit.

The WBJEEB has said the restriction is intended to prevent multiple claims to seats, unnecessary blocking of seats and seat migration by candidates who have already

secured admission.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.