Samarth portal glitches disrupt PU admissions, delay schedule

Patna: Technical glitches in the much-publicised Samarth eGov portal have disrupted Patna University’s (PU) admission schedule this year. The university is unlikely to complete admissions and start classes as per the timeline finalised by the chancellor’s secretariat for Bihar universities, official sources said.PU initiated admissions to undergraduate and postgraduate courses for the 2026-27 academic session through the Samarth portal, as mandated by the state education department and the chancellor’s secretariat. However, the varsity has faced persistent hurdles in expediting admission-related processes on the portal, leading to repeated delays. Consequently, all timelines have been missed, causing embarrassment to the authorities and inconvenience to students and their guardians.PU dean of students’ welfare Kameshwar Pandit said applications for undergraduate courses in colleges such as Patna College, Patna Science College, B N College, Magadh Mahila College and Vanijya Mahavidyalaya were invited on the portal on May 9, with the deadline set for June 5.The first merit list for admission to four-year degree courses in arts, science and commerce streams was released two days after the scheduled date of June 7.

Counselling and admissions, initially planned from June 9 to 12, were extended till June 13 due to the delay. On June 16, the university announced that counselling and admission for left-out candidates in the first merit list would be held on June 17 and 18.Pandit added that the second merit list for nearly 2,000 seats was scheduled for release on June 15. Owing to technical glitches, it was deferred, with a fresh date of June 21 announced.

Counselling-cum-admission was to be held from June 22 to 25. However, the list has not been released yet, and no revised schedule has been announced.Several applicants are running from pillar to post, seeking clarity from university officials but receiving no concrete response. “I made several rounds of the PU office and Vanijya Mahavidyalaya over the past week, but could not find out when I will be admitted to the BCom (Hons) course,” said aspirant Mahi Sinha.Vanijya Mahavidyalaya principal Suheli Mehta told TOI that uncertainty over admission dates has led to harassment of candidates and their guardians. “For the first time in PU’s history, admission schedules have collapsed and students are not being admitted as per announced dates. Even during manual admissions, PU colleges did not face such problems,” she added.