The Hindu : Front Page : Professional colleges Bill gets assent

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Monday, Jul 03, 2006

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Professional colleges Bill gets assent

Special Correspondent

Governor R.L. Bhatia gave his assent to the Bill on Sunday.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Governor R.L. Bhatia gave his assent to the Kerala Professional Colleges (Prohibition of Capitation Fee, Regulation of Admission, Fixation of Non-Exploitative Fee and Other Measures to Ensure Equity and Excellence in Professional Education) Bill on Sunday. The counselling for admission to professional colleges will be held on the basis of the provisions of the Bill. The schedule will be announced on Wednesday.

The Act provides for reservation to social, educationally backward classes and economically backward sections of society besides physically challenged persons. The total reservation for these categories is 50 per cent. Fee concessions and freeships are available to 50 per cent of the students. The managements will have a quota of 30 per cent consisting of privilege seats and NRI seats (15 per cent each). Admissions will be through a single-window system supervised by the Commissioner of Entrance Examination. Merit will be a criterion for 85 per cent of the seats. But means will be the criterion for freeships.

The Act specifies criteria for granting minority status to professional colleges. These provisions have become controversial and some private college managements are planning to challenge the provisions in court. The Government is likely to seek protection of Article 9 of the Constitution for the Act from the Centre. The Assembly passed the Bill at 1.20 a.m. on Friday and it was sent to the Governor, who was in Kochi, through special messenger on Saturday. The Government College Teachers Organisation demanded in a statement here that the admissions should be carried out on the basis of the pattern followed last year, as framing of the rules under the new Act and related administrative procedures would take time. General secretary of the organisation S. A. Shajahan said the Government had gone back on its promise to ensure equity in the field of self-financing colleges.

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