Telangana Assembly clears pvt universities Bill

Hyderabad: The Assembly has approved the Telangana State Private Universities (Establishment and Regulation) (Amendment) Bill paving the way for the establishment of five new private universities — Mahindra University, Woxsen University, Malla Reddy University, SR University and Anurag University — in the State.

Giving priority to local students, these universities have been mandated to set aside 25 per cent of seats for students from Telangana. Students whose parents worked in the State for at least two years are also eligible for admission under the quota.

Introducing the Bill in the Assembly on Monday, Education Minister P Sabitha Indra Reddy said the Private Universities Act was enacted in 2018 and the latest amendment was necessitated to allow operation of new universities in the State. She said the decision would benefit many students who otherwise were migrating to neighbouring States or abroad to pursue their choice of courses in higher education. She pointed out that the State was ranked 25th at the national level in terms of the number of universities available.

Of the total 16 proposals received for the establishment of private universities, the expert committees appointed by the State government examined the facilities, including infrastructure and staff as well as other norms stipulated by the regulatory authorities. “Only eight proposals reached the final stage, and we gave approvals for five in the first phase, while the other three are in consideration for the next phase,” the Minister said.

The Principal Secretary for Higher Education would be a member of the governing body of all these universities, to ensure that they function as per the stipulated regulations in terms of courses offered, admissions, and fees collected.

Further, Sabitha rubbished the allegations of the Opposition that some TRS leaders had stakes in these private universities. She said the permissions were given in strict adherence to the established norms of the regulatory authorities at the national level. She pointed out that all these private university managements had been operating private educational institutions for the past 20-30 years in the State and obtained permissions upon fulfilling all conditions. She clarified that the fee reimbursement scheme as well as reservations in admissions will be applicable to the existing courses in the brown-field universities, which have already been operating different educational institutions in the State. The new green-field universities, which will commence operations in the State, are not required to follow these regulations.

Now you can get handpicked stories from Telangana Today on Telegram everyday. Click the link to subscribe.

Click to follow Telangana Today Facebook page and Twitter .