No CET admission till demands are met, say colleges

Private institutions seek SC approval and report on fee structure

Firstly, the State government should seek the Supreme Court’s approval for the last year’s consensual agreement between the State and private managements. Secondly, the admission process will be started only after the Fee Regulatory Committee headed by Justice B Padmaraj submits its report.

Consensual agreement

In the past five years, issues relating to seat-sharing and fee structure were determined through a consensual agreement between the State government and private managements, which were later placed before the Supreme Court for approval.

The consensual agreement of 2010-11 has not been placed before the apex court, owing to a hitch in the judgment delivered by Justice Gopala Gowda last year. It struck down the current practice of charging differential fee for the same course - secured through the CET and Comed-K - in the same college.

Non-approval of the consensual agreement has caused heartburn among private colleges, particularly private dental colleges.

The Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) has disapproved admissions of several students who failed to meet the Dental Council of India’s (DCI) eligibility criteria.

At the meeting, RGUHS Vice-Chancellor Dr S Ramananda Shetty said: “We can approve the admissions only when the consensual agreement, which supersedes the DCI regulations, is approved by the Supreme Court.”

The University has also issued letters to colleges to discharge these students.
Higher Education Minister V S Acharya said Advocate General Ashok Harnahalli has been asked to place the agreement before the Supreme Court within a week for approval.

Fee Regulatory Committee

The Fee Regulatory Committee was set up to study the finances of colleges and fix fee structure based on the same. Even though private colleges welcomed the establishment of the committee, they have opted for a wait-and-watch stance as they were dissatisfied with the report submitted by the panel in 2006.

College authorities rejected the committee’s report, as they claimed that the fee fixed was irrational and did not even cover their operational costs.

Moreover, the Justice Gopala Gowda judgment has further pushed the State government into dilemma.

However, Acharya has said the government quota seats needs to have a lower fee structure.

The next meeting with private colleges will be held after ten days, he said.