An anxious wait for rural Engineering Colleges

HYDERABAD: The managements of engineering colleges located in rural areas of the state are opposed to demand of the Consortium of Engineering Colleges Association for fixing the tuition fee based on the expenditure incurred on infrastructure and faculty.The state government is going to submit its view to the Supreme Court on January 23 on the demands of the consortium.Many feel that engineering colleges located in rural areas will be at a loss if the government yields to the demand of the consortium.Speaking to Express, consortium's general secretary KVK Rao says that they are firm on their demand that tuition fee be fixed separately for each college, considering the standards of infrastructure and teaching, and that the government should articulate this view before the Supreme Court during the hearing on January 23.Principal secretary (higher education) MG Gopal says they are busy preparing answers to the issues raised by the opposition parties and the Supreme Court for submission on January 23.On the other hand, K.Chiranjivi Reddy, president of the Association of Professional Colleges which has a few rural colleges as its members, says that they will oppose it if the government capitulates to the consortium and accepts its demand.There are some unique issues to be taken into consideration while deciding the tuition fee of the rural colleges, he says.According to him, very few promoters come forward to set up professional colleges in rural areas as such institutions will not be viable, and any such venture should be treated as social service as most of the students admitted to these colleges are from underprivileged sections of society.He argues that rural colleges are forced to pay better salaries to faculty members and other employees as they are not usually willing to work in semi-urban and rural areas.The government is, therefore, duty-bound to encourage these colleges also because of the poor student strength.If the state takes up the cause of well-established and urban colleges and formulates its stand accordingly, colleges which have got more number of additional seats over the years on the strength of their reputation and location would benefit, and rural colleges will not only suffer but may also face closure, he says.At present, the tuition fee in all colleges, irrespective of their location and status, is Rs 32,000 for Category-A seats (convener quota) and Rs 91,700 for Category-B seats (management quota).The Consortium of Engineering Colleges Association had filed a petition in the High Court seeking a direction for removal of disparity in the tuition fees for management and convener quota seats and sought a common fee for all seats.It also wanted fee to be fixed after taking into consideration the costs involved in setting up good infrastructure and efficient faculty.Agreeing with the managements' contention, the High Court asked the government to scrap the existing fee structure and fix it anew, with retrospective effect, for academic years 2010-11 and 2011-12.Rejecting the AFRC's (Admission and Fee Regulatory Committee) recommendations for a viable fee structure for the management and convener quota seats, the court called for a common fee structure for the two categories of seats.The government then filed an SLP (Special Leave Petition) in the Supreme Court, saying that it would be difficult to fix common fee for the past two academic years (2010-2011 and 2011-12) because the admission process had been completed in all respects.Agreeing with the government submission, the Supreme Court said there was no need to revise the fee structure for the past academic years but asked the government to submit a report on the procedure to be adopted by AFRC for fixing the fee structure for the coming academic year.In their petition, the managements of colleges consortium wanted the to be fee fixed considering the infrastructure, faculty's calibre and the costs involved.If the government toes the consortium's line at the Supreme Court, rural colleges will be in a disadvantageous position since their tuition fee will be less than what well-established colleges in urban areas will be able to command