REGULATE FEES AT PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES, SAYS WAIKAR

MUMBAI: Ravindra Waikar, minister of state for education, has proposed fees of courses offered at private or self-financed universities be regulated by the state government.

In a letter to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, Waikar alleged that the universities are functioning in a high-handed manner as there is no government control over them. He also wants the government to regulate admissions and appointments at the universities and take action against the institutes which violate the norms.

“The government had directed the department of higher and technical education to inspect all the self-financed universities which have been permitted by the state. But it appears that the department is yet to inspect them in the desired manner,” Waikar wrote in the letter.

The junior education minister requested the chief minister to hold all the proposals for new selffinanced universities until the state puts in place a regulatory mechanism for them. “The state has given Letters of Intent (LOI), a document outlining the general plans of an agreement between two or more parties, to a proposed university of an educational organisation whose another university has irregularities. It’s a very serious matter. This is akin to indirectly helping the organisations which have flouted norms,” said Waikar.

As many as 13 private universities have come up in the state after the government enacted Maharashtra Self-financed Universities (Establishment and Regulation) Act in 2011.

The state government has granted permission for these varsities in order to reduce burden on its public universities.