Kochi: Kochi-based Centre for Public Policy Research (CPPR) has come out with a report which denotes that despite the stern warning issued by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, autonomous colleges in the state collect huge donations for management seats. The study undertaken by the chief economist of CPPR and former professor of Maharaja’s College Dr Martin Patrick and research scholar Nikitha Mary Mathew finds that the admissions to management seats in aided courses are also not transparent. The increase in the fee collected by private colleges for aided courses comes to the extent of 90–95 percent. For an unaided course, it is more than three times the fee prescribed in the government college.
“It has been noticed that the managements of private colleges collect huge donations from students, especially if the students are admitted under management seats. The donation ranges from Rs 25,000 to Rs 11 lakh. It has been pointed out from certain corners that there is an annual hike in the amount collected as a donation, as is evident from the fact that the maximum amount of donation was Rs 2 lakh some two years ago, which has now increased to Rs 11 lakh for a BCom seat in a private autonomous college. The huge increase in the donation in the name of building fund or other causes is an impact of autonomy granted to private institutions,” says the CPPR report.
