Candidates aspiring for EAPCET counselling are troubled due to technical glitch

Ongole: Technical glitches in the AP EAPCET admission website are causing trouble for candidates wishing to register for counselling. The condition of uploading the latest caste certificate to complete the registration has forced applicants to rush to Meeseva centres and ward and village secretariats to get the certificates immediately, as the last date for registration is fast approaching. The Department of Technical Education and Andhra Pradesh State Council of Higher Education have opened a website for admission of candidates who qualify for AP EAPCET. Candidates wishing to join the online counselling process have to register on the website and pay the online processing fee by July 7. Certificate verification and option entry will end by July 10 and July 12 respectively. Seats will be allotted on July 16 and students have to report to the college by July 22. However, candidates wishing to join the counselling are unable to complete the first step, registration and processing fee payment. Many students wishing to avail the reservation facility faced problems in uploading caste certificates issued before April 2024. Certificates issued till March 31 from Me Seva and ward and village secretariats are issued under the academic year 2023-24. Certificates issued from April are being issued under the academic year 2024-25, and the AP EAPCET admission website is accepting only these certificates. G Naga Chaitanya, a candidate who tried to register on the website and avail the reservation, said his father had received the caste certificate when he applied for the entrance exam, but the website is no longer accepting the certificate number. He questioned why APSCHE does not accept the earlier certificate when the government had already ordered to consider the unified caste certificate issued in any year. Also read – ‘Mega Shiksha Mela’ on July 6 A Mee Seva Kendra operator in Ongole said they are directing students who approach them to apply for caste certificates to go to the ward secretariat. He said the VROs are registering their applications immediately and the tahsildars are also disposing of them on a day-to-day basis, looking at the requirements of the students. They are only applying for EWS certificates, he said. Students trying to register and pay the processing fee are also facing issues with the payment gateway, he said. Though they have tried several times, they could not complete the payment, he said. V Nageswara Rao, a parent of a student, said the ward and village secretariat staff did not issue certificates from March 16, the day of the notification of the general elections 2024, till June 10. He said their request was justified, and requested the officials to fix the problems in the admission website and extend the deadline to July 10, so that at least the candidates get enough time.