CAP 2011 error - Student says CAP error robbed her of college seat

There was high drama at the centralized admissions process' (CAP) main centre on Tuesday with a student blaming officials for her losing out on seat in a top college. Sanyukta Shaw, a student of Tata Parsi Girls High school, had applied for a bifocal seat and was called for counselling on Tuesday morning. With her merit ranking high, Sanyukta was confident of getting admission in her preferred college Dharampeth Science.

Her mother Vandana Shaw said, "When the revised merit list was displayed, my daughter had the benefit of extra five marks on account of her being part of Scouts and Guides. When I came with her to Dhanwate National College (DNC) at 7am they called for document verification and only asked for the NCC certificate. When I said that my daughter was in the Guides, they reduced five marks out of total claiming only NCC cadets were eligible for the extra marks."

The guideline mentioned in the form sold by CAP clearly mentions "NCC/Scout/Guide/RSP (road safety patrol) certificate" will be eligible for extra 5 marks.

"The officials present said that due to the loss of marks my daughter's merit ranking would be affected. I was called back again at 2pm. I knew that by that time the seats at Dharampeth Science College would be filled up and I was just hoping that our second preference, Somalwar, will at least be available," said Shaw.

However, when Shaw returned in the afternoon the other set of officials said her daughter was very much eligible for the extra five marks! The officials blamed Shaw instead for not having proper documents ready in the morning itself.

CAC employee Gajanand Wankhede said, "Parents are supplying wrong information to us when they come to the counter. We accept that adding five marks for NCC, scouts, RSP is a rule but they didn't show the certificate to us when we asked for it. It is important that parents and students bring their original documents for verification. It is mandatory. Still, we do not want Sanyukta to lose out and we are considering her case. We have called her back on July 20. We urge the parents to please cooperate with us."

Shaw says she is very disappointed as her daughter "did not even get a seat in Somalwar". Shaw said, "The CAP officials need to understand parents are engaged in different professions and it is very difficult for them to leave office. I have now been called on July 20 for allotment of seat. If on that day it does not work out my daughter will await declaration of general science merit list."