Common Admission test (CAT) aspirants from Gujarat seem to be in a fix as they face a tough time finding slots in Gujarat which has only one centre for the test this year.
With all slots across all dates of CAT full in Gujarat, students are now being forced to opt for nearby centers outside Gujarat like Jaipur and Mumbai to give the CAT. The biggest cause of worry seems to be the shrinking of CAT test venues in Gujarat from three sites last year to just one this year. This is in stark comparison to last year where between 7000 to 7500 students took their CAT exams in the three centres located in engineering colleges in Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar.
"As I wanted to wait for a review of the CAT papers, I wanted to opt for some of the later dates in the CAT schedule. But finding them unavailable in Ahmedabad, I have now chosen Mumbai as my centre for giving the test. The only dates available when I looked up was the first day which was not conducive to me and since there is just one centre there is a huge rush for it. All the other slots have already got booked for every other day at the Ahmedabad centre. There should definitely be an increase in the venues for the tests as there are so many applicants from Gujarat," said a third year commerce student who is appearing for CAT this year on conditions of anonymity.
The MBA commusnity have also been raising concerns about the seating capacity and the infrastructure provided this time around. "We have been getting reports from our students of how they are unable to find dates to give their test at the Ahmedabad site. The centres have been reduced to one this year so there is a lot of visible concern among students who are still in the process of registering themselves about the availability of seats at the centre in Ahmedabad. As a result many students are now being forced to go to other nearby centers to give their test. This would involve them travelling for a day or two in advance which is an added stress or considering the immense pressure they would be undergoing right from preparation to giving the test. This year we are still in the dark about how the infrastructure facilitates are going to be like," said Parasharam Chari, head of Academics, Endeavour careers, that offers a CAT training programme.
While CAT was previously conducted by the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA) in 2008, 2009 and 2010, this year IIM Calcutta (IIM-C) will be conducting CAT across India, while IIM Lucknow will lending them support in the same.
"So far we have not got any reports of this development from Gujarat. But having the best interests of MBA aspirants, we would definitely be looking into this matter," said Janakiraman Moorthy the newly appointed CAT convenor this year. Although there is a window period of almost a month before the last date for registrations for CAT arrives, all eyes will be on IIM-C to see how they would ease out the process for the CAT aspirants from Gujarat. The last date for registering for CAT is September 28.
