The State government is learnt to be examining the possibility of amending the Karnataka Professional Educational Institutions (Regulation of Admission and Determination of Fee) Act 2006 through an ordinance route. Such a possibility is being examined in a bid to get more seats for meritorious and rural students in professional courses, after the Education Department forwarded the proposal to the Law Department.
Higher Education Minister R.V. Deshpande confirmed to The Hindu that the proposal could reach the Cabinet soon.
Pointing out that deemed universities and colleges of linguistic minorities were presently not under the purview of this Act, sources said the Law Department was working on a proposal to extend the jurisdiction of the above Act so that meritorious students would get more seats.
Wait a week
A clear picture on whether such a proposal would materialise may emerge in about a week from now as there is a strong possibility of the issue being taken up before the State Cabinet meeting to be held on May 21, sources noted.
If the Cabinet gives its nod, the process of promulgating the ordinance would commence so that the new legislation would come into effect from this academic year itself, sources said.
Too late?
However, private college managements say they have all but given up on the Act being implemented for the coming academic year. “Many top colleges have already started filling up the management quota seats. It is too late for the Act to be implemented at this stage,” said a member of the Karnataka Unaided Private Engineering Colleges Association (KUPECA), which has been pressing for the implementation of the Act.
