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Sunday, Aug 05, 2007
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Fee structure: panel not for hasty decision

Staff Reporter

P.A. Mohammed panel to hold further talks.

KOCHI: The Fee Regulatory Committee, headed by the former judge P.A. Mohammed, will hold further discussions before taking a final decision on amending the fee structure in self-financing engineering and medical colleges in the State.

A sitting of the committee held here on Saturday could not finalise the fee structure in the wake of a Government Ordinance allowing the committee to review the fee structure from ‘time to time.’ Earlier, the committee had the powers to review the fee structure once in three years only.

The Ordinance was introduced in an attempt to provide legal cover to the agreement signed by the Government with self-financing engineering and medical colleges for admissions this academic year.

Members of the fee regulatory committee pointed out that the fee structure could not be amended in haste. They referred to the legal implications of such an amendment, especially in the wake of an interim order by a Single Bench of the High Court making changes in the pact signed by the Government with self-financing engineering and medical colleges.

The committee members said that a final fee structure could be proposed only after ascertaining the expenditure incurred by the managements of various self-financing engineering colleges. A suggestion for reviewing the infrastructure and other facilities available on campuses also came up during the sitting.

The committee had earlier pointed out that even the existing fee structure in self-financing engineering and medical colleges was high. While proposing the fee structure for this academic year, the committee had also observed that the managements had failed to submit relevant proof to supplement their claims for a fee hike.

In view of the impasse over the allotment of seats to various professional courses, the committee has decided to hold its next meeting on August 8. It has invited the management representatives of SCMS Engineering College, KMEA Engineering College and the Federal Institute of Science and Technology to attend the meet.

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