<p>The Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) is being run with zero grants from the state government, Minister for Higher Education Dr M C Sudhakar informed the Legislative Council on Monday.</p>.<p>The minister’s statements were issued in response to objections raise by BJP MLC Hanumanth Nirani to the fees charged by the KEA for departmental recruitment examinations. “KEA charges Rs 750 per application, which is rather high, given that the fee is Rs 1,000 for the UPSC application, and only Rs 300 for the KPSC examination. So, KEA must reduce its fee bearing in mind the interests of poor but meritorious candidates,” said Nirani, who added that KEA had made Rs 40 crore from application fees collected from <br />aspirants who applied for the posts of 1,000 Village Administrative Officers.</p>.Son vows to carry forward Saalumarada Thimmakka’s legacy.<p>KEA is receiving no grants from the government, Sudhakar told Nirani. “In fact, KEA is not relying on the government even to pay salaries to its personnel. Application fees for government departmental exams in other states is higher, around Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,500. Compared to that, what the KEA is charging is less,” said Sudhakar.</p>.<p>He also relayed to the Council the various measures taken by the KEA to ensure examinations are conducted smoothly, and transparently. “KEA instals closed-circuit television cameras to web cast the exams to curb malpractices. Nearly 90% of the money collected from application fees is used up for conducting that specific examination. For instance, of the Rs 1.8 crore that KEA collected for the exams it conducted for BMTC, expenditure from holding the exam accounted for Rs 1.71 crore,” Sudhakar added.</p>
<p>The Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) is being run with zero grants from the state government, Minister for Higher Education Dr M C Sudhakar informed the Legislative Council on Monday.</p>.<p>The minister’s statements were issued in response to objections raise by BJP MLC Hanumanth Nirani to the fees charged by the KEA for departmental recruitment examinations. “KEA charges Rs 750 per application, which is rather high, given that the fee is Rs 1,000 for the UPSC application, and only Rs 300 for the KPSC examination. So, KEA must reduce its fee bearing in mind the interests of poor but meritorious candidates,” said Nirani, who added that KEA had made Rs 40 crore from application fees collected from <br />aspirants who applied for the posts of 1,000 Village Administrative Officers.</p>.Son vows to carry forward Saalumarada Thimmakka’s legacy.<p>KEA is receiving no grants from the government, Sudhakar told Nirani. “In fact, KEA is not relying on the government even to pay salaries to its personnel. Application fees for government departmental exams in other states is higher, around Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,500. Compared to that, what the KEA is charging is less,” said Sudhakar.</p>.<p>He also relayed to the Council the various measures taken by the KEA to ensure examinations are conducted smoothly, and transparently. “KEA instals closed-circuit television cameras to web cast the exams to curb malpractices. Nearly 90% of the money collected from application fees is used up for conducting that specific examination. For instance, of the Rs 1.8 crore that KEA collected for the exams it conducted for BMTC, expenditure from holding the exam accounted for Rs 1.71 crore,” Sudhakar added.</p>