No legislation to deal with capitation fee menace: Ravi

The government on Thursday admitted that it is aware of private educational institutions charging hefty capitation fees, but said there is no specific legislation to deal with the issue.

The government on Thursday admitted that it is aware of private educational institutions charging hefty capitation fees, but said there is no specific legislation to deal with the issue.

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"There is no legislation to specifically deal with the issue of educational institutions charging hefty capitation fees. But this issue needs to be debated," Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vyalar Ravi said while replying to supplementaries in Rajya Sabha.

BJP members S S Ahluwalia and Vikram Verma sought to know what steps the government was planning to curb this practice.

Ravi told the House that government has approved 15 per cent seats for children of members of Indian diaspora in all the institutions/university departments approved by AICTE, offering courses in engineering and technology, architecture and town planning, MBA, MCA and other such disciplines.

The said supernumerary seats over and above the approved intake are reserved for foreign nationals/NRIs and children of workers in Gulf countries. One-third of these 15 per cent supernumerary seats across different disciplines are reserved for the children of Indian workers in Gulf countries.

Ravi said UGC has issued orders for creation of 15 per cent supernumerary seats for foreign students. One-third of it will be earmarked for children of Indian workers in the Gulf.

He, however, said there is no designated nodal agency for allocating seats to individual institutions. This statement evoked protests from Opposition benches.