Maharashtra to Regulate Fee, Admission of Private Colleges

The Maharashtra government has decided that from the coming academic year, the Maharashtra Unaided Private Professional Education Institutions (Regulation of Admission Fees) Act, 2015 will be implemented.

The state will get the power to regulate college fees throught this Act, and restrict private institutions from conducting common entrance test (CET), which will be applicable to all degree, technical, medical and agriculture colleges and varsities.

The draft had been pending for nearly nine years as most ministers in the earlier government were on the boards of medical and engineering institutions, according to a report.

Vinod Tawde, higher and technical education minister, said that an ordinance has been passed. A panel will be set up under a retired high court judge, with a chartered accountant and a former vice-chancellor, among others, on it.

He further said that ICWA and a team of experts from the finance sector will study the financial status of colleges and finalize their fee structures which cannot be changed for four years.

The new Act will not be applicable to deemed universities and institutions like IIT, and there will be no control over fees under the 15% management quota. Under the Act, the committee can lodge a complaint against an institution that provides false information and the directors of such institutions may face jail terms of up to two years.

Tawde said that with the government paying the fees of students admitted under reservations in medical and management colleges, the state is expected to save up to Rs 300 crore once the fee regulation Act is implemented.

The minister added that CET will only be conducted by the committee. No private player will be allowed to conduct separate CETs for admission. Colleges are bound to admit students on the basis of the government CET.