The association of private engineering colleges in Bengal has appealed to the state government for permission to admit students who did not write any common entrance exam, a move that sources said has been prompted by a staggering number of vacant seats. The Association of Professional Academic Institutions said a section of Plus-II board students could not write the JEE this year because the exam was held ahead of the usual schedule. As the JEE board wanted to start admissions early, the test this year was conducted in February instead of April. Of the 34,000-odd BTech seats in private colleges across Bengal, 22,000 remained vacant after the three-phased centralised counselling by the JEE board ended on October 31. Since no more centralised counselling will be held, the state higher education department has allowed the colleges to admit students directly to fill the vacant seats.