India

Vijayan Calls for Reversal of Circular Permitting College Seat Increases Without Government Approval

By PTI

Pinarayi Vijayan has urged the Kerala government to withdraw a circular that allows certain autonomous aided and self‑financing colleges to increase seats without prior government approval. Speaking in the Kerala Assembly on Sunday, the former chief minister warned that the move could lead to the commercialisation of education. Vijayan said the decision was made under pressure from private college managements and demanded the immediate withdrawal of the government circular. He cited a September 11 circular issued by the Higher Education Department that had made prior government approval mandatory for introducing new courses and increasing seats in government, aided and autonomous colleges. According to Vijayan, the government has now relaxed the norms, undermining existing regulatory mechanisms and allowing colleges to increase seats at their discretion. He argued that this could pave the way for commercialisation, especially after assurances were given to the Supreme Court that self‑financing courses would not be allowed in aided colleges on a large scale. Vijayan questioned whose interests the government was protecting by granting such concessions after college management representatives met the Higher Education Minister. He alleged that eliminating annual inspections and allowing colleges to report seat increases only after admissions would amount to a conspiracy to sell seats through bribery, subverting merit and reservation provisions. Vijayan said these measures would dismantle government regulation and undermine the educational rights of ordinary people, particularly the poor. He called for a comprehensive legal inquiry into the alleged dilution of the September 11 circular’s provisions under pressure from private college managements.