Counselling begins amid protests(source newindexpress)

VIJAYAWADA/GUNTUR: EAMCET counselling started amid protests by various students� organisations at Vijayawada and Guntur on Wednesday. Online counselling was conducted for the first time in Vijayawada.

SFI, PDSU and AIYF activists staged a dharna at the Government Polytechnic, the counselling centre in Vijayawada.

PDSU city secretary A Ravichandra said the State Government was doing a favour to private educational institutions by increasing the fee. SFI city president T Praveen expressed concern over increase in the fees for professional courses. He said the fee hike would make professional courses inaccessible to poor students.

Government Polytechnic principal and convener R S Raju said 77 students had obtained admission today during the online counselling. He said a majority of the students had opted for campus colleges of different universities. The first admission started with 20th ranker who opted for ECE at JNTU, Kukatpally.

GUNTUR: Meanwhile, protests were also witnessed at Eamcet counselling at Mahila Polytechnic at Gujjanagundla in the city. Anush Kumar, who secured 20th rank, opted for ECE at JNTU, Kukatpally. A majority of students had opted for ECE, according to counselling officer K S Varaprasad.

The Pattabhipuram police arrested 35 SFI activists while they were staging a dharna. SFI district secretary Lenin alleged that the Government had increased fees in engineering colleges by colluding with the managements of private engineering colleges.