Karnataka govt panel caps fee hike for professional courses at 8 per cent
Bengaluru: Though many private professional colleges in the state batted for a hike of 30 to 50 per cent this year, the Karnataka Fee Regulatory Committee (KFRC) has decided to cap the fee hike at 8 per cent. The same will be applicable for the academic year 2018-’19 at all engineering, dental and medical colleges across the state.
The Fee Regulatory Committee, chaired by former High Court judge Justice D.V. Shylendra Kumar, was set up to study the fees fixed under consensual agreement for the last three years before reaching a final decision. The committee, for the first time, has also fixed the fee structure for Non-Resident Indian (NRI) students, which will be 10 times the fee fixed for other students.
The state government had entered into a consensual agreement earlier in February with private medical colleges fixing the increase in fee cap at 15 per cent for postgraduate medical and dental seats and 10 per cent for undergraduate seats in the state. This, however, should not be put in place and instead the committee recommendations where the cap is at 8 per cent should be followed and any difference from this should be refunded, Justice Shylendra said.
On the other hand managements has expressed unhappiness over the committee’s decision and has also sought clarification regarding some issues.
Karnataka Professional Colleges Foundation Chairman M.R. Jayaram said the committee’s decision to fix fee in general across institutions is unfeasible as there are concerns regarding implementation of the sixth pay commission and running the courses in a cost-effective way.
“When a formula of fixing fee as per student expenditure will give way to different amounts to different institutions as the number of students and the infrastructure provided at each colleges vary, how can one fix a general structure for all,” he said.
Jayaram also alleged that the committee never approached all colleges to study their audit reports for the past three years, as they claim to have done over time as well.
Corroborating the views, members of the Karnataka Unaided Private Engineering Colleges Association said the same would result in many colleges forced to close down as their financial survival would be affected if this is implemented.
On condition of anonymity, a member said, “This is completely illogical as no formal notification on what we have to follow is still far from reaching us. When even some officials from the higher education department are unaware of the same, a cloud of confusion sustains at the moment. We will meet CM H.D. Kumaraswamy soon to speak further on the issue.”
Another member said the same has forced many premier institutions in the state to push for a private university status so as to get the power to fix fee structures independently.
