Private universities: Bill will have to be revised with the coming of central law; no backward class reservation system in Kerala either

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: There is no reservation for backwards classes in the private universities to be started in Kerala. The bill passed by the assembly for this purpose has a 15% reservation for Scheduled Castes and a 40% reservation for students who are permanent residents of the state.

The Private Universities Bill in Kerala will have to be revised with the Centre accepting the Parliamentary Standing Committee's recommendation to provide 27% reservation for OBCs in private universities. There is also a recommendation that states should enact legislation to provide fee concessions to backwards classes.

The Governor has not signed the private university bill. The Raj Bhavan has assessed that the 40% state quota in the total seats in universities is not legally valid. 'Kerala Kaumudi' had pointed out that this quota may not be legally valid in the context of the Supreme Court order not to make place of residence a criterion for admission, and that it could lead to legal battles in the future.

The Assembly Subject Committee had also clarified that the Supreme Court order requires that constitutional norms be strictly followed for reservation in the states. The House Committee recommended that provisions be included in the bill so that the fee concessions and reservation benefits of eligible students are not lost. The government says that only in Kerala do Scheduled categories have benefits in private universities, including fee concessions, and that the bill can be amended after the Central Act is passed. The fees in self-financing engineering colleges are fixed by a committee of retired High Court judges. However, according to the current bill, no matter how much fees are charged in private universities, the government or the courts cannot interfere.

Kerala quota will have to be changed

• The Supreme Court recently scrapped the existing 50 percent state quota in PG medical admissions. With this, people from any state can apply for admission
• The provision in the bill is against the Supreme Court's order that equal opportunity should be given for admission in any college in the country.