Not admitting that keeping in abeyance the implementation of the Karnataka Professional Educational Institutions (Regulation of admission and determination of fees) Act-2006 was a ‘setback’ for the government, Medical Education Minister Sharan Prakash Patil said it was a ‘collective failure’ by everyone including opposition and ruling parties to explain its benefits to students and other stakeholders.
Talking to reporters here on Thursday, Patil said he never felt ‘disappointed or let down’ by the ‘’postponement’’ of its implementation.
‘’I am a firm believer in democracy. I can only say we have failed to explain benefits to people. I wanted to bring revolutionary changes in professional courses by helping poor and merit students. But that did not happen’’, he said.
The minister said he had gone ahead with the implementation of the Act despite strong opposition from private college managements. Many of them had written to him stating they would move court if the Act was implemented. ‘’We had prepared well to implement it from this year but students vehemently opposed it. One of the major contentions of the students has been that we did not discuss the pros and cons of the Act in public forums. So, we have decided to take people’s and students’ opinions and make amendments to the Act before implementing it.
The government is likely to table the Bill again in the coming (legislature) session since its implementation has been deferred’’.
When his attention was drawn to opposition from Union Petroleom and Natural Gas Minister M Veerappa Moily who brought in Common Entrance Test (CET) in the State, Patil said he explained to him the benefits of the Act.