Private professional colleges will sign a consensual agreement with the state government to continue last year’s seat-sharing ratio and fee structure for admissions to engineering and medical courses this year.
Accordingly, in unaided non-minority institutions, the percentage of government share of seats is 45 per cent in engineering, 40 per cent in medical and 35 per cent in dental colleges. The fee structure for government quota seats is `36,090/41,590 for engineering, `46,000 for medical and `35,000 for dental colleges.
“As has been happening over the last few years, we will sign a consensual agreement this year as well. Even though we have difficulties, we are doing this in the interest of students,” said D Hemachandra Sagar, president, Karnataka Unaided Private Engineering Colleges Association (KUPECA).
The decision was taken at a meeting held in the official residence of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah with representatives from KUPECA, Karnataka Private Medical and Dental Colleges Association (KPMDCA) and Karnataka Religious and Linguistic Minority Professional Colleges Association.
The Chief Minister has promised implementation of a new version of the Karnataka Professional Educational Institutions (Regulation of Admission and Determination of Fee) Act, 2006 next year, Sagar said. KUPECA demanded a 20 per cent hike in fees which the state government refused.
“Everything has to be reworked properly. We do have problems with the fee structure, but it is too late and we couldn’t have delayed this further,” Sagar said. KUPECA will meet on Tuesday to communicate this decision to its members.
Higher Education principal secretary Rajneesh Goel said the government is committed to making amendments to the 2006 Act. “Any amendment to the law will be done in consultation with various associations, student bodies and political parties,” Goel said.
Candidates from the Hyderabad-Karnataka region will get 8 per cent of government quota seats in institutions outside Gulbarga, Yadgir, Bellary, Bidar, Raichur and Koppal and 70 per cent in colleges located in these six districts.
Private professional colleges have been signing consensual agreements with the state government as the Karnataka Professional Educational Institutions Act has been kept in abeyance since 2006. The law, which was supposed to be implemented this year, would have done away with subsidised government quota seats in private colleges and make the Common Entrance Test (CET) valid only for government and aided colleges. The CET is scheduled to be held from May 1-3 this year.
“All the documents we submitted as a part of the stalled implementation of the Act would be used next year when an amended Act would come,” Sagar said.