Karnataka Government to check blocking of seats in engineering colleges

Bengaluru: In order to put an end to the practice of students blocking a seat in a private engineering college, the state government has proposed four major changes to the Karnataka Educational Institutions (Prohibition of capitation Fee) Act, 1984. Act. The proposed draft in the public domain will be finalised by October 16 and any changes suggested should be addressed to the Principal Secretary to Government, Education Department (Higher Education).

"If a student fails to attend classes after accepting a government seat in a private college, they have to pay five times the seat-booking fee in addition to forfeiting the booking fee as penalty. Private institutes will be held responsible for not informing the Karnataka Examination Authority about vacant seats in their colleges, which might arise due to students not attending the course after blocking a seat. In that case, the institution will have to pay a penalty of five times the fee," the draft by the government read. Engineering colleges are directed to correct the original documents of the candidates at the time of the admission and shall release them after obtaining the permission of the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA).

"Once the KEA ascertains that the student will be attending the course, the documents will be released and the student will not be liable to pay the penalty fee. In case a student is liable to pay the fines, the institution has to collect the penalty amount and transfer it to the KEA within a week after receiving it. Otherwise, the engineering colleges themselves must pay the penalty to the KEA," the draft said.