The Hindu : Kerala News : No major changes in Bill on professional colleges

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Saturday, Jul 03, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

No major changes in Bill on professional colleges

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, JULY 2. The Subject Committee of the Assembly has reported the Kerala Unaided Professional Colleges (Prohibition of Capitation Fees and Procedure for Admission and Fixation of Fees) Bill without major changes, but with dissent notes from Opposition members.

The Committee recommended that the admissions to the NRI quota should be made on the basis of marks in the qualifying examination. The managements would have option to earmark not more than 15 per cent of the seats in management quota to the dependents of non-resident Indians. The original provision on NRI quota, which covered courses in medicine only, had not specified any norm for admissions.

The Committee suggested that the word `unaided' in the title be changed to `self-financing'.

The Opposition members demanded major changes regarding norms for admission to the management quota and fixing of the fee. The Education Minister, Nalakath Soopy, who chaired the meeting of the Committee, and the Law Minister, K.M. Mani, who attended with permission of the Speaker, did not agree to that. However, they are understood to have told the Committee that limited changes could be made after consultations. These could be moved as oral amendment by the Minister when the Bill as reported by the Committee comes before the House on Monday. The Cabinet informally discussed changes demanded by the Opposition on Wednesday. Accordingly, the Education Minister may hold discussions with the managements before final decisions are taken.

The Opposition members said in their dissent notes that admissions to the management quota too should be filled from the rank-list of the Common Entrance Examination conducted by the Government. Besides, the Government should fix the fee.

The CPI (M) members, K. Radhakrishnan and Mathai Chacko, called for inclusion of B.Ed., LLB, MBA and MCA courses also within the purview of the Bill and stricter provisions for control by the university.

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