Chennai: Seats have been allotted to students in at least five unrecognised engineering colleges during the second round of counselling for B.E. and B.Tech admissions under Anna University, triggering shock and anger among parents, students and educationists.

According to officials, Tamil Nadu has 423 engineering colleges affiliated to Anna University, offering around 1.87 lakh B.E. and B.Tech seats. The first round of counselling, held from July 7 to 26, saw 28,896 seats filled, including 26,719 under the general category and 2,177 under the 7.5 per cent internal quota.

The second round, conducted from July 26 to August 7, allotted 52,694 general category seats and 9,633 under the internal quota, taking the total seats filled to 92,279 after two rounds.

Educationist Ashwin alleged that five colleges without Anna University recognition were included in the counselling list, leading to 31 students being allotted seats in them. “This raises serious questions about the verification process,” he said.

Another educationist, Jayaprakash Gandhi, said many students with high cut-off marks had opted for substandard institutions due to lack of awareness. “Even 166 students with a 190 cut-off participated in the second round and ended up in lesser-known colleges,” he noted.

Officials from the Directorate of Technical Education said allotments to unrecognised institutions had been cancelled, and fresh seats were being allocated based on merit.

Notably, 22 colleges recorded zero admissions after two rounds, while 147 colleges managed to fill only half of their sanctioned intake.