Talks over fee structure with private engg colleges fail

At a meeting of representatives of private engineering colleges with Higher Education Minister V S Acharya, talks lasted over two hours. But no conclusion had been reached by the two parties.

The State government was firm on fee for engineering courses to be fixed at Rs 30,000, while private engineering colleges demanded a fee of Rs 50,000.

‘Fees too low’

Karnataka Unaided Private Engineering Colleges Association (KUPECA) Vice-President Pandurang Shetty said “The fee quoted by the government is too low, considering the increase in salaries after the implementation of the sixth pay commission”.

Shetty said that the association was willing to negotiate further, but the government had to make a better offer.

The State government has been under pressure from the Akhila Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) not to increase fees for the upcoming year. On Monday, the State government had already finalised the fee structure with private medical colleges.