Private engineering colleges have taken strong exception to the state government's decision to increase seats in government-run colleges while stopping the private ones from hiking their intake capacity.
After downsizing, private engineering colleges in the state are planning substantial increase in fees from the forthcoming academic year. At least 40 private engineering colleges have been pleading to revise their annual fees.
Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh on Monday said the government will not issue licences to new private universities in the state, saying they are "not needed in a small state".
Even as calls are growing louder against the State government for allowing as many as 17 private universities to be set up in the State, Governor and Chancellor of universities H.R. Bhardwaj has given his approval to eight of them. This means that eight of the Bills that were passed by the Legislative Assembly and Council are now Acts, paving the way for their enforcement.
Speaking about the modus operandi of the incident, Sharma said Behera had provided the question paper of physics on March 6 evening to Barik. Crime Branch officials suspect involvement of more private colleges in the question paper leak incident.
Minister of State for Higher Education Badri Narayan Patra on Thursday assured the Assembly that the Government will review the functioning and the fee structure of the private colleges.
The state government has reduced the land holding limit for establishing private universities in the state. Accordingly, private universities will now be allowed to be set on an area of around 10 acres as against 50 acres previously.
The issue of allowing private universities to set up campuses in Himachal Pradesh came up in the state assembly Tuesday with members raising questions about the credentials of some of these institutions.
Himachal Pradesh government stated in the assembly that it is not certain about the authenticity of degrees being provided by the fifteen private universities which came up in the state during last BJP rule.
The issue of permission granted to large number of private universities to set up campuses in Himachal Pradesh and land purchased by them, rocked Assembly on Tuesday with members questioning the credentials of these universities and the degrees being awarded by them.
While one of the focus areas of Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors Summit 2013 was knowledge-sharing through partnership with foreign education institutes, technical colleges back home are tottering to collapse.
The state will have three private universities by the next academic session. A nod could subsequently be given to five more following a scrutiny of their applications, which is now in progress.
ADG (CB) Bijay Sharma said Debendra Behera, suspended deputy secretary of Council of Higher Secondary Education (CHSE) in Sambalpur, had entered into a deal with private colleges to provide them question papers for money. Speaking about the modus operandi, Sharma said Behera had designed two modules to charge the private colleges.
Students taking admission to technical institutions affiliated to the Uttar Pradesh Technical University (UPTU) across the state are likely to see a change in fee structure as fee in all technical courses running in private engineering and management colleges in the state is being fixed.
While most private engineering colleges have decided to resume classes next week, government colleges are awaiting a notification from the Higher Education Department to reopen.
In a major setback to private engineering colleges operating without proper infrastructure and required faculty, the state government has ordered a "physical inspection" to ascertain the actual facilities available in the institutions.
In a major breakthrough in the Plus-II science question paper leak, the Crime Branch of Odisha Police have arrested heads of three privately run colleges.