Candidates who passed their Intermediate exams nearly 27 years ago, in 1985, have applied for Eamcet this year. Eamcet officials received several applications from those who had passed Intermediate between 1985 and 2000. They said since there was no upper age limit for Eamcet, all applicants would have to be allowed to appear for the exam irrespective of age.
However, the officials are being extra cautious about the large number of Eamcet applicants, who have cleared Intermediate between 2005 and 2010. The majority of them submitted applications for the Eamcet medical exam, while a few opted for the engineering stream exam. Their details have been submitted to the intelligence and police departments for the verification of credentials to avoid irregularities like copying and leakage of question papers.
According to Eamcet officials, two candidates each, who passed Intermediate in 1985, 1986 and 1990, have applied for Eamcet this year. One each who cleared Intermediate in 1987, 1992, 1993 and 1995 have submitted applications for Eamcet. Three candidates each who passed Intermediate in 1994, 1996, and four each who cleared Inter exams in 1997 and 1998 have also applied for Eamcet.
However, the number of old students who applied for Eamcet has increased significantly with each passing year from the 2000 batch of Intermediate students. Fourteen students who cleared Eamcet in 2000 have applied for Eamcet this year. The number increased to 25 (2001), 20 (2002), 22 (2003), 48 (2004), 97 (2005), 202 (2006), 340 (2007), 594 (2008), 959 (2009), 2,481 (2010) and 17,094 (2011).
Professor N.V. Ramana Rao, Eamcet convenor, has stated that a few candidates aged above 50 years have approached them, since the online application system does not accept their applications, as the software is designed with an upper cap of 45 years. “They have told us that they are retired employees and just wanted to test their subject, understanding and memory skills. Their intention is to assess where they stand now when compared with the new generation of students,” professor Rao said.
However, those students who cleared Inter between 2005 and 2010 are giving the jitters to the Eamcet officials, since their number is fairly large compared with other “repeaters”. In 2010, a malpractice came to light when a group of repeaters leaked the medical question papers using mobile phones with blue-tooth technology. Officials thwarted their attempts, as the culprits were caught inside the exam centres.
Professor Rao explained: “Medical aspirants appe-aring for Eamcet repeatedly, is understandable given the few MBBS seats available in the state. But when the same thing is done by engineering aspirants, despite the abundance of B.Tech seats, there is room for suspicion. For this reason, we are verifying the credentials of repeaters.”