Assam passes Bill with penal provisions for private educational institutions

Dispur (Assam) [India], September 20 (ANI): The Assam Legislative Assembly passed the Assam Non-Government Educational Institutions (Regulation of Fees) (Amendment) Bill, 2022 to include penal measures against private educational institutions across the state that don’t comply with the provisions of the Fee Regulation Act.
The state’s education minister Ranoj Pegu on Monday presented the Assam Non-Government Educational Institutions (Regulation of Fees) (Amendment) Bill, 2022 on the floor of the Assembly.
Then, the state assembly passed a draft amendment.
The amendment Bill said that “Subject to the provisions of section l0 of the Act, the Fee Regulatory Committee shall recommend maximum limits of fees to be charged by the different categories of Non-Government Educational Institutions in every year before starting of the academic session.”
All the Non-Government Educational Institutions shall file applications before the Fee Regulatory Committee, either for exemption or fixation of their fee structure by October 31.
All the Non-Government Educational Institutions shall have to register and apply either for obtaining an Exemption Certificate or Fee Fixation Certificate for obtaining certificates from the Fee Regulatory Committee.
“If the Non-Government educational Institutions fail to apply before the Fee Regulatory Committee thereof, as mentioned under clause (2) above, penalties shall be imposed to the Non-Government Educational Institutions,” said the amendment Bill.
Assam Non-Government Educational Institutions (Regulation of Fees) (Amendment) Bill, 2022 said that a penalty of Rs 10,000 will be imposed if the application is not submitted on or before the October deadline.
Further, an amount of Rs 5,000 will be charged as late fine for each month, if a Non-Government Educational Institution applies after the deadline.
“In the event of non-submission of the proposal by the Non-Government Educational Institutions before starting of the new academic session to determine their fee structure, the Fee Regulatory Committee shall suo moto determine the fee structure of that particular institution which shall be binding on such school,” said the amended Bill which was passed in the Assam assembly.
The state Assembly also passed ‘The Auniati University Bill, 2022’, under which a teaching and research university will be set up at Teok, Kaliapani in Jorhat district aiming to provide instructions, teaching and training in Higher Education and provide quality research and for advancement and dissemination of knowledge of the most up-to-date standard within the traditional Indian systems of value and spiritual ethos and to create a higher level of intellectual abilities guided by a spirit of service to the society.
Post passing of the Bill, Opposition legislature and AIUDF member Rafiqul Islam told ANI that, the state government has brought a few minor amendments in the private educational institutions’ bill.
“The government has made penal measures for private educational institutions of the state that don’t comply with the provisions of the Fee Regulation Act, but Rs 10,000 penalty is very minimum for the private educational institutions. The government should have brought a strict provision. We now think that the government has now left the private schools and the government is going towards privatization,” Rafiqul Islam said. (ANI)