Sixteen-year-old Vinay Prakash Minz’s suicide on July 22 underlined the worrying fact that undergraduate colleges in the state have run short of seats for many prospective matriculates. Minz had secured a second division in the matriculation examination and had submitted applications to four colleges here. But since none of them admitted him, he decided to hang himself from a tree in a fit of hopelessness.

His may be an exceptional case, but what troubled him was real and felt by many across the state.

Of the 3.39 lakh students who took the Class X examinations, 2.94 lakh students passed the test; among these, 92,250 students bagged first division, whereas 1.50 lakh and 52,274 students got second and third divisions respectively.

However, the number of seats available in the 301 undergraduate colleges of the state’s three universities — Ranchi, Sidhu Kanu, Vinoba Bhave — was less than 2.50 lakh. With the cut-off mark set at 56 per cent in colleges, more than 44,000 students who secured 55 per cent or less could not get admission in any of the colleges. “We will be nowhere,” said Sohan Lal, a matriculate with 52 per cent marks, echoing the concerns of many like him.

Their desperation has led many students to turn violent. The other day, Dhirendra Singh, principal of Sanjay Gandhi College, was beaten up by admission-seekers.

What is troubling is that the state Government has neither a short-term nor a long-term plan to deal with the problem. The Jharkhand Academic Council (JAC) dispatched letters to the colleges exhorting them to increase their seats and to hold evening classes for the students who could not secure seats in the institutions. “In case these colleges do not comply with our order, we will take legal action,” said JAC vice-chairman Abdul Subhan.

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