Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Sept 12: Aspirants for the Basic Agriculture Training (BAT) program today once again appealed to Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Kashmir (SKUAST-K) to increase the seat quota for the Open Merit category.
The candidates said they have been requesting an enhancement of at least five seats since the first round of counselling held in April this year.
They alleged that during the second counselling, announced only for reserved category candidates, several seats remained vacant as the number of eligible candidates was low.
“We had requested the authorities to convert the vacant reserved seats into the Open Merit category, and the university had assured us of the same,” the aspirants said.
The candidates are now demanding that the ongoing third round of counselling, scheduled for October 3, 2025, be modified to include additional seats for the Open Merit category.
“Every year SKUAST-K has increased the intake for diploma courses, but this year the enhancement was made only in undergraduate courses. We request the authorities to increase seats for the BAT course in Open Merit as well so that top meritorious candidates are not left out,” they said.
The aspirants added that many of them have not enrolled in any other institution while waiting for admission under BAT.
“Our future is at stake. We request the university to save our year and our careers,” they said.
According to the aspirants, their repeated attempts to meet the Vice Chancellor to present their representation were unsuccessful.
“Since we were not allowed to meet the VC, we approached the media to highlight our grievance and appeal to the university administration,” they said.
University authorities told Excelsior that while the number of seats has already been increased, any further increase in the open merit category would also require a corresponding increase in other categories.
“Once the counselling sessions are over, if seats remain vacant in the reserved categories, those can be converted to open merit during the mop-up session. We have plans to do that, and it will be ensured,” officials said.
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