GANDHINAGAR, DEC 12
Vijay Rupani-led BJP Government has passed the Gujarat Professional Technical Education Colleges or Institutions (Regulation of Admission and Fixation of Fees) Bill on the last day of the brief Winter Session of the assembly on Wednesday.
The Bill proposes to reduce the number of government reserved seats for professional courses and open the market for direct admissions to foreign nationals as well as students from other states to study in Gujarat, was passed in the Assembly.
The amendments are in view of the huge number of seats in professional colleges going vacant, even as the government has raised the number of seats in the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) quota.
The bill was introduced “in view of the change in the situation of demand and supply of professional courses in the state”. According to the amended bill, government reserved seats for MBA, MCA, Engineering, Architecture and Pharmacy in unaided colleges or institutions have been reduced from 75% in the principal Act to 50%. As per the amendment of the clause (h) of section 2, which talks about management seats, the number of management seats have been increased from 25% to 50%, including 15% of Non-Resident Indian seats, and seats for the Foreign National Students and students from any state, including Gujarat.
The bill also authorises that if any unaided college or institution requests to fill all or any portion of the management seats by the admission committee, such management seats shall be considered as government seats. Also if any government seat or NRI seat remains vacant, then such seat shall be filled as management seat.
“In the past three years, it appears that the aspirant students are lesser against the approved seats in the professional courses in Gujarat State. Therefore, more than 50% of seats of self-financed institutions remain vacant after the admission process is over. Moreover, in the year 2019, additional 25% seats have been increased to implement reservation of EWS. States like Rajasthan and Maharashtra as well as distant states like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh are allowing students from other states since long. This has strengthened the competition and knowledge aspect of the students in their states. Similarly, in Gujarat, it is also required to increase the pan-India competitiveness among meritorious students’’ the draft says.
The increased seat share under the management quota directly facilitates the admission of foreign national students. As per the amended bill, a new definition of Foreign National Student has been inserted in the section 2 of the principal Act. “Foreign National (FN) Student means the student other than Non-Resident Indian (NRI) who possesses a foreign passport and fulfils the equivalency of eligibility requirements ascertained by the competent authority as may be specified by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India, for admission,” the bill states.
Thrust on research
The bill also introduces a new body called the GTERS or the Gujarat Technical Education and Research Society. “For quality improvement, creating awareness about professional courses among the students, admission process for professional courses and to conduct various activities pertaining to technical institutions, the education department has set up Gujarat Technical Education and Research Society (GTERS)… the overall supervision of admission process is to be conducted under GTERS,” the Bill says.
Hefty fine on pvt colleges/varsities
The bill also proposes the necessary provision to empower the state government to conduct an inquiry and to impose penalty to any professional educational college or institution, including private university, on receipt of any complaint from any person related to fees irregularities. The penalty amount has been revised from Rs 20 lakh to Rs 50 lakh.
