Talking to reporters, Education minister Bratya Basu, following a meeting with vice-chancellors (VCs) of state universities, said a candidate can now apply for admission based on the marks secured in higher secondary or other plus-two-level board exams.

A student can also state his choice of college in the application, and the request will be considered, the minister explained.

Asked if the varsities would be conducting online exams this time, given that a section of students had long been agitating for the same, Basu said, “We will leave the decision to the respective institutions. They have autonomy. We will not interfere.

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“However, we are in favour of transparency in the exam system.” Talking about the demise of singer KK after live performance at a college fest, Basu, terming the incident “sad and unfortunate”, said colleges and universities, henceforth, will have to inform the higher education department about all plans and arrangements before organizing any fest or musical soiree.

“The department will had a word with college authorities on this issue very soon,” he stated.

Basu added that the state government was in favour of holding elections to student unions of colleges, something that had been hanging fire for over three years partly due to COVID-19.

One of the VCs, who had attended the meeting, later said that he and his counterparts in other universities “conveyed to the minister our readiness to implement the new system for admission to UG courses”.

“We will ratify the decision at our executive body meeting by this week,” he said.