‘MR College has always been a private institution’

It will continue with or without aid from the government, says MANSAS Trust

Amid the row over the reported move to privatise the MR College in Vizianagarm, the Maharaja Alak Narayan Society of Arts and Science (MANSAS) Trust has said that the college has always been a private institution since its inception in 1879 and that there is no need for agitations over the issue.

“The institute will continue to remain a private college with or without financial aid from the government,” a release quoted MANSAS Trust correspondent P.V.L. Raju as saying on Wednesday.

Grant in aid

He said the fee structure would be finalised in accordance to the guidelines of the government. “Reforms in the MANSAS educational institutions began in 2017 with the surrender of the grant in aid of MR College of Education (B.Ed College) to the government,” he said.

According to sources, the clarification indirectly targeted the then chairperson of MANSAS Trust and former Union Minister P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju, who reportedly surrendered the grant in aid facility extended by the government for the B.Ed College.

Mr. Ashok Gajapathi Raju recently objected the reported proposal for the privatisation of MR College.

The alumni and representatives of various people’s organisations and students unions have been opposing the move. “The MR College issue is different from other institutions. All associations should strive hard for the protection of the college as it is the lone aided college in Vizianagaram in the absence of any government college,” he said.