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Cabinet clears Bill banning capitation fee

NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet on Friday cleared the Prohibition of Unfair Practices in Technical, Medical Educational Institutions and Universities Bill, 2010, that seeks to make capitation fee a cognizable offence.

The Bill recommends a maximum of three years imprisonment and a fine of Rs.50 lakh for charging capitation fee and putting out misleading advertisements or wilfully giving wrong information in the prospectus. All other offences are non-cognizable and will be tried by the educational tribunals to be set up for the purpose.

“Capitation fee is destroying the cause of education in the country and needs to be curbed,” Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal told journalists on Friday evening.

The Bill proposes prohibition of and punishment for adoption of unfair practices in higher educational institutions. The Ministry had been concerned over some technical and medical institutes and universities resorting to unfair practices. These include, charging capitation fee and demanding donations, not issuing receipts in respect of payments made by or on behalf of students, admission to professional programmes of study through non-transparent and questionable processes, low-quality delivery of education services not in keeping with promises made, misleading advertisements in the media with an intention to cheat, unqualified or ineligible teaching faculty, forcible withholding of certificates and other documents.

The two other Bills — the National Accreditation Regulatory Authority for Higher Educational Institutions Bill, 2010, and the Educational Tribunals Bill, 2010, — were also cleared.

The Educational Tribunals Bill, 2010, will provide an adjudicatory forum for speedy resolution of all issues that arise in the higher education sector. State educational tribunals are proposed to be established in each State and Union Territory by the respective State governments. These will adjudicate on matters related to teachers and other employees, students and institutions. The National Educational Tribunal will adjudicate on matters concerning the regulatory bodies in higher education and also matters involving institutions located in two or more States. The National Accreditation Regulatory Authority for Higher Educational Institutions Bill, 2010, proposes to set up an independent regulatory body which will register, monitor and audit accreditation agencies.

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