Orissa assembly passes Educational Institutional Bill

Bhubaneswar, Apr 3: Orissa government has brought a legislation to regulate admission, fix fee, prohibit capitation fee and reservation in professional, educational institutions and private self-financing professional institutions in the state.

The state assembly yesterday, after hours of debate, passed the Orissa Professional Educational Institutions(Regulation of Admission and Fixation of Fee) 2007 with some amendments brought by both the Treasury bench and Opposition members.

The short session of the House was extended for a day yesterday to pass the bill, as the government had promulgated an ordinance on March 2 when the state legislature was not in session.

The bill empowered the state government to make the admission procedure more fair and transparent and ensure a single window system by holding one common entrance test.

State Law Minister Biswa Bhusan Harichandan, who moved the bill, rejected the amendments proposed by Congress member Narashingha Mishra and others to appoint a retired High Court judge as Chairman of the Policy Planning Body and Fee Structure Committee, proposed in the bill to regulate admission, formulate guidelines for holding joint entrance test and approved the fee structure.

The Opposition also succeeded in their effort to include a provision in the bill which stipulated that the Act would not be applicable to private professional institution established by special enactment of the Legislature.

The Law Minister also agreed to induct the MLAs into the two Committees-Policy Planning Body and Fee Structure Body--following the demand by the Opposition members. Congress Deputy leader Narashingha Mishra demanded that at least three MLAs should be taken as members in both the Committees but the Minister, who was initially reluctant to take MLAs into the committee, later agreed to induct only two MLAs in each committee.

Mr Harichandan, however, rejected ruling BJD member Ranendra Pratap Swain's demand to incorporate 27 per cent reservation for the OBC students.

On the demand of Congress member Padma Lochan Panda, the Bill incorporated and allowed the private professional institutions to hold a second entrance test in case of seats lying vacant.

The bill also incorporated that the government-sponsored institutions would be debarred from collecting capitation fee and covered disciplines in bachelor degree in Bio-technology course, Master degree in Medicine and Surgery in addition to other disciplines mentioned in the bill.

UNI