The Hindu : Kerala News : CAPE: Government fee to be charged in merit quota

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Aug 04, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

CAPE: Government fee to be charged in merit quota

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, AUG 3. The self-financing medical and engineering colleges under the Government-sponsored Cooperative Academy of Professional Education (CAPE) would charge only Government fees in merit quota seats during this year, the Cooperation Minister, M. V. Raghavan, said here today.

Mr. Raghavan told a news conference here today that the decision to charge only Government fees in merit seats had been taken in the light of confusion arising from the Supreme Court verdict insisting on realisation of fees recommended by the K. T. Thomas Commission for both merit and management quota seats. The decision would be implemented by providing scholarship to the students selected to the merit quota seats. The decision would benefit students in the Pariyaram and Kochi cooperative medical colleges and engineering colleges at Thalassery, Vadakara, Perumon, Kidangoor and Thrikkarippur, he said.

Asked whether the decision would be applicable to the Government-run self-financing colleges as well, the Cooperation Minister said, that was for the departments concerned to consider. He said the decision of the UDF leadership was to go ahead with the proposal to have the law relating to self-financing colleges included in the 9th Schedule of the Constitution.

NABARD criticised

Mr. Raghavan came down heavily on the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) for what he termed its gross insensitivity to the credit needs of the farm sector. The NABARD was more interested in offering funds for road development and was not offering refinance support to the cooperative banks. Although various cooperative credit institutions had released Rs. 1,311 crores in credit last year, the NABARD refinance support came to only Rs. 129 crores. This was in violation of the statutory requirement of 25 per cent refinance support.

The State Government would take up the issue with the Union Finance Minister, he said. The Minister refused to comment on the resignation of the Forest Minister, K. Sudhakaran, from the executive committee of the Pariyaram Medical College.

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