Calcutta University has failed to increase the number of BTech seats because of infrastructure inadequacies. The university had received funds to develop infrastructure, though.

Last week, the joint entrance examination board issued a notice for the 2020-21 exams. On the JEE site, the university’s seat count remains unchanged at 233.

A university official confirmed that the number had not changed despite the university adopting a resolution last year at an admission committee meeting to raise the count to 306.The university is still to develop a workshop, a basic requirement to admit more students. BTech students are taught engineering mechanics and engineering drawing at a workshop on the university’s Ballygunge science college campus in the second semester.

The university’s first-year students mainly use the workshop at Ballygunge science college. These students attend classes on the Salt Lake campus and travel to Ballygunge science college for the workshop.Commuting from Salt Lake to Ballygunge takes time and it inconveniences students and leaves them with little time for theory classes, the university official said.

The workshop was set up in 2000 for jute and fibre technology BTech students, which was the only four-year course then. Now, all are four-year courses and students take turns to use the workshop.Vice-chancellor Sonali Chakravarti Banerjee had sanctioned Rs 2 crore in 2017 when she was the pro-VC (finance) for a workshop at Salt Lake. She became VC in July 2017.

In May 2018, she had said the university had received Rs 10 crore under the Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan to develop its infrastructure, including the upcoming workshop.A professor on the Rajabazar science college campus of the university said it was a mystery why the workshop had not been developed as funds were not a constraint.

VC Chakravarti Banerjee sent the university’s engineer, along with pro-VC (academic) Ashis Chatterjee, to the Salt Lake campus on Friday to prepare a status report. “The delay happened as a new firm has been appointed following the termination of the previous firm’s contract. We hope the workshop will be ready before the next academic session in July,” she said.