Hyderabad: Shortly there will be a procedural change in the admission process of technical education. The Technical Education Council is about to implement changes in the procedure in order to overcome the problems of misutilisation of scratch cards. As part of this programme, option procedure through the internet will be ceased hence forth.

Alternately, there will be an option open through the specially allotted helpline centres. However, there will be a huge financial burden on the government for this procedural change. The counseling fee is likely to be increased from last year’s fee of Rs. 600.

In case of the option change, an extra amount will be required to be paid by the student. A decision to this extent has already been taken by the Technical Education Council in principle. A final decision will be taken after the next meeting of the board of members with reference to their Friday meeting.

The salient features of the new proposals are as follows:

•  The options are to be selected only from helpline centres instead of internet centres. Each candidate will be allotted with 1 ½ hours and a single person will be allowed into the helpline centre along with the candidate.
• The student needs to upload the photos of parents/guardians at the time of applying.
• Only one person will be allowed at the time of choosing options.
• The student needs to choose the helpline centre at the time of applying. Options to be submitted at those particular centres only. An extra amount should be paid for changing the options, if required.
• Helpline centres have been increased from 53 to 93. As many as 2,500 computers will be used for the process.