Govt dragging its feet on admissions to engineering colleges

The delay over fee stipulation for admission to engineering and other professional colleges seems to be dragging on endlessly and is likely to impact the academic schedule of these institutions.  

It appears that Kiran Kumar Reddy's government is in a fix when it comes to stipulating the fees for the engineering courses. The government had earlier put the colleges on a mat by bringing out  two ordinances recently to inspect the private engineering and other professional colleges under the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU). The ordinances promulgated by the Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan sought to do away with the exemption granted to JNTU under the A.P. Education Act, 1982 and empower the government to inspect the infrastructure, facilities offered and academic standards of these colleges.

The government's logic was that  the fee reimbursement scheme was a huge drain on public exchequer and that fees charged by institutions ought to match the stipulated standards. Colleges cried foul and alleged that as in the case of many other initiatives of the YSR government, the present dispensation was trying to dilute welfare schemes brought in by the former Chief Minister.

It is worth recalling here that the government had pegged the fees at Rs 35,000 per seat and agreed to reimburse the entire amount. More than 30 institutions challenged the government decision in the AP High Court and the bench asked the Admissions and Fee Regulatory Committee (AFRC)  as to how it had arrived at Rs.35,000 per seat. The managements of some institutions feel that considering their standing and the facilities offered by them, they have a right to charge as much as a lakh per seat. In other words, they would like market forces to decide on admissions to courses and that all-round quality should be a determining factor.

While the Chief  Minister claims that the AFRC would come out with an explicit announcement on this subject soon, both colleges and students alike are getting increasingly impatient mainly because the academic schedule this year is likely to get  delayed thanks to the government's inconsistent stand. One can well imagine what the plight of students is likely to be considering the fact that the counseling process hasn't even begun and September is barely is a week away! Students seeking admission to professional courses should have been in the thick of  academic activity already. Instead, they are not even sure when the counseling process would begin! 

-yesat@sakshipost