August 2026 : The Federation of Self-Financing Technical Institutions (FSFTI) has urged the University Grants Commission (UGC), All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), Ministry of Education and other regulatory authorities to extend the admission deadline for technical and professional courses from August 14 to October 30th, 2026.
While
the current admission deadline for UGC and AICTE-regulated courses is August
14, the Pharmacy Council of India has allowed admissions until September 15,
2026.
Dr.
Anshu Kataria, President, FSFTI and Punjab Unaided Colleges Association (PUCA),
and Chairman, Aryans Group of Colleges, said the admission session has been
disrupted by uncertainty surrounding NEET, examination-related controversies,
re-examinations, delayed results and prolonged counselling. Many students
waited for medical and healthcare counselling before considering engineering,
pharmacy, management, allied healthcare and other professional programmes,
leaving them with little time to make informed career decisions.
Dr.
Kataria said students seeking admission to allied and healthcare programmes
have been particularly affected by frequent changes, directions and
clarifications under the National Commission for Allied and Healthcare
Professions (NCAHP) framework. Uncertainty over eligibility, entrance
requirements, course nomenclature, sanctioned intake, institutional recognition
and the regulatory status of colleges has caused confusion among students,
parents and institutions.
Kataria
added that delays in Polytechnic results and CBSE Class XII re-evaluation
results have also affected students, including those seeking lateral-entry
admission in engineering and other technical programmes. ITI examinations have
only recently concluded, the results are not expected before 14th August,
students aspiring to take admission into Polytechnic through LEET will not be
able to complete their admission process within the existing AICTE admission
timeline, he mentioned.
Adv.
Amit Sharma, Senior Vice President, PUCA, said several NCAHP provisions and
norms have neither been implemented uniformly nor communicated clearly. The
absence of a fully functional and transparent mechanism has made it difficult
for students to identify duly recognized courses and institutions.
Dr.
K.V.K. Rao, General Secretary, FSFTI, said floods related disruptions in Assam,
Odisha, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab and other states have further affected
admissions. Displacement, damaged road and internet connectivity, financial
hardship and difficulties in obtaining academic documents have prevented many
students from completing counselling, travelling to institutions and finalizing
admissions.
PUCA
members S. Manjit Singh, S. Gurmeet Singh Dhaliwal, Ashwani Garg, Ashok Garg,
Mohit Mahajan, S. Gurkirat Singh, S. Gurpreet Singh and H.S. Kanda have urged
UGC, AICTE, the Ministry of Education and other concerned authorities to extend
the deadline to October 30th, 2026, so that deserving students are not deprived
of higher education opportunities due to circumstances beyond their control.
It
is to be mentioned that on PUCA petitions in Supreme Court, admission deadlines
for technical courses were extended to October 30 in 2025, October 23 in 2024
and October 30 in 2023. In 2022, admissions were allowed until October 25 for
first-year courses and October 30 for lateral-entry programmes.