AP earmarks 35% BTech in pvt varsities under govt quota

Amaravati: The Andhra Pradesh government has decided to reserve 35 per cent of BTech and BSc Agriculture (Hons) seats in private universities under the ‘government’ quota, and also cap the fees for these seats as well.

The state government will also be paying the fees of those students who are eligible for fee reimburesement under ‘Jagananna Vidya Deevena’, chairman of Andhra Pradesh State Council for Higher Education (APSCHE), Prof Hemachandra Reddy said on Wednesday.

As per the notification dated October 24, the arrangement is for the block periods of 2021-22 and 2022-23. The fee cap ranges from Rs 40,000 to Rs 70,000 and applies to SRM University Amaravati, VIT University Amaravati, Centurion University of Technology and Management, Vizianagaram, and Bharatiya Engineering Science & Technology Innovation University, Anantapur.

The state government, headed by chief minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, has taken the step towards ensuring that affordable education is made accessible and available to meritorious students hailing from poor and middle class families. Officials said that with private universities charging exorbitant fees, quality education is unavailable to many who are deserving but cannot afford it.

Prof Hemachandra Reddy said, “The vision of our Hon’ble CM is to make quality and affordable education available to every single student in AP. For long now, a lot of students hailing from poor or middle class families were either over burdened or had to forego their seats in private universities due to the exorbitant fees collected by the authorities. That is the reason the Government has decided to fix the fee.”

The 35 per cent ‘reserved’ seats will be assigned to candidates by the government, based on the Common Entrance Test conducted at the state level. No University will have the right to collect more fees or give out seats which have been reserved under the quota.

However, when it comes to deemed universities, as the regulatory body is the UGC, this policy doesn’t apply but the Government has already written to the UGC, asking the body to permit the Government to do so, keeping in mind the larger good and are waiting for a response, officials said.