Minister of State for Medical Education Sharan Prakash R. Patil on Thursday said that the government might amend the Karnataka Professional Educational Institutions (Regulation of Admission and Fixation of Fee) Act 2006 to address the public concern about admission test and tuition fee.
Dr. Patil told presspersons here that his department was consulting the Law Department on the amendment within the tight scope of the Supreme Court judgment. “If I had been given a free hand, I would have fixed a cap on the fee chargeable by professional colleges,” the Minister responded to a question on the issue.
As of now, the government had to move a Bill to defer the implementation of the Act for 2014-15 as promised by the Chief Minister.
Meanwhile, the government would hold wider consultations with all to address concerns. Admitting that not enough public debate was held before the actual implementation of the Act, the Minister said that he was under the impression that the implementation would be welcomed as everyone — the ruling party, the Opposition, and others — had been demanding the enforcement.
In fact, the most affected would have been the private professional colleges as all admissions had to be made on merit and fee should have been collected on the lines fixed by the fee fixation committee. Many of them had written asking him not to enforce the Act, he noted.
The Act would have put an end to all the alleged malpractices — capitation fee, blocking of seats etc., the Minister said.
Six new collegesDr. Patil said that the department was in the process of seeking Medical Council of India (MCI) approval to open government colleges in Koppal, Gulbarga, Gadag, Chamarajanagar, Karwar and Madikeri.
Tendering process for college buildings had started and the MCI would be convinced of the need for approval, the Minister said and added that the government had released Rs. 175 crore for buildings.
Dr. Patil hoped that the MCI would approve admissions, 150 seats for each college, from the next academic year itself.
Unlike the previous government which had just announced medical colleges without making any financial commitment, this government had moved forward after addressing all preliminary issues so that the applications would not be rejected by the MCI, Dr. Patil added.
