Bengaluru: The Karnataka State Higher Education Council (KSHEC) has recommended to the state government to constitute an expert panel to ensure that the domicile policy is implemented without a change in private universities as well. As per mandates of the Private Universities Act (Separate Acts for each varsity), private varsities in the state are asked to admit domicile students in at least 40% of seats across undergraduate and postgraduate courses.
Section (9) of the Act reads, “40% of the admissions in all courses of the university shall be reserved for the students of Karnataka State and admissions shall be made through a Common Entrance Examination conducted by the state government or its agency and seats shall be allotted as per the merit and reservation policy of the state government from time to time.” The KSHEC discussed the issue at a meeting recently, said a highly placed official from the council. “We have been receiving complaints that the policy is not taken seriously by universities. Defaulters of the law will be given strict warnings as per our decision,” said the official.
At Alliance University and Azim Premji University, the first two private varsities permitted by the state government, the share of total seats held exclusive for all courses amounts to 25%. The council has decided to increase the reservation for domicile students to 40% in these varsities as well.
In all, 13 private universities function in the state, of which nine were established between 2010 and 2014. The Department of Higher Education has planned to send teams to collect live information from the varsities on their admission policies.
An official from the department told Deccan Chronicle, “The nine varsities which were established by 2014, following completion of three academic years, can now be monitored closely by the state government. This equips us to arrange for official visits to collect information on how they have been functioning. Strict action will be taken against those who act against the law.”
