Angry parents and students are storming college management meetings and boycotting admissions. The Maharashtra government is looking for ways to reduce fees.And the education barons? They are using the chaos as an opportunity to demand for an increase in management-quota seats.‘‘The private colleges are ready to bring down the fees by 50 per cent if the government is ready to increase the management quota up to 30 per cent,’’ Industries Minister and Chancellor of Bharati Vidyapeeth, Patangrao Kadam said today.Kadam heads the three-member committee appointed by CM Sushilkumar Shinde on Wednesday to negotiate with the unaided colleges. The committee held talks with representatives of some unaided colleges today. According to Kadam, the private medical colleges are willing to charge 50 per cent of the current fees — which are about Rs 3.50 lakh a year — to half of the students.Further, 20 per cent seats will be filled by socially and financially backward class students at concessional rates. For the other 30 per cent, the managements want to charge fees up to five times the average.Significantly, the state had earlier offered a 15 per cent management quota, against which the private colleges had approached the Bombay High Court. The court had ruled that the government could decide the management quota. Now, the managements are again demanding an increase in their share of seats taking advantage of a cornered government.Kadam also said the formula adopted by the Karnataka government was acceptable to the private colleges. Karnataka has a three-tier fee structure with a 25 per cent management quota. Officials are, however, wondering how any formula with a differential fee structure will be accepted by the Supreme Court, which had categorically ruled that there should be one fee for all students. Meanwhile, Shinde has called a special Cabinet meeting on Monday to discuss the fee structure submitted by private colleges.
