BE fee structure dispute in Bangalore continues

There seems to be no end to the imbroglio over the fee structure and seat-sharing between private engineering college managements and the state government. With less than 10 days to go for the Common Entrance Test 2011, there is a fresh twist to the dispute with the founder and chairman of Devraj Urs Group of Institutions, RL Jalappa, on Monday filing a writ petition in the Karnataka high court, asking the state government to release the justice B Padmaraj commission report on fee structure which had been submitted to it over a month ago.

The Padmaraj Commission was appointed following a Supreme Court directive. The Padmaraj Commission was envisaged with the idea of doing away with CET which provides for a government quota in private engineering colleges. However, the state government was reluctant to release the report because the panel had suggested different fee for different colleges.

Jalappa, one of the management representatives, who was opposing the government’s proposal on fee structure and seat-sharing from the beginning, has now filed the writ petition challenging the government’s decision to maintain a veil of secrecy over the report. “Yes, I have filed a petition before the high court. Our only demand is that the government should release the Padmaraj panel report. It should reach the public and college managements,” he said.

The petition is likely to come up for hearing on Tuesday.