From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru

Bengaluru, May 28: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah strongly defended hike in the fee for professional courses in the State.

But his Cabinet colleague and Social Welfare Minister H Anjaneya, who spoke to repoters separately, sought reduction in fee hike.

Addressing presspersons, the chief minister said private college managements have been hiking fee for engineering, medical and dental courses for the last few years.

The fee had not been hiked for the last four years. Therefore, a decision was taken to increase the fee, he told reporters in Bengaluru on Thursday.

Fees had been hiked by 18 per cent for engineering and medical courses.

However, Anjaneya said the fee hike would burden meritorious students belonging to the poor families.

"I will disagree with hike and write to the Chief Minister to reconsider the fee," Anjaneya said.

Anjaneya warned engineering and medical college managements warned against collecting five types of fees – tuition, library, laboratory, sport, examination – from students belonging backward class and minorities (BCM) and allotted seats under the CET quota.
The State Government would reimburse fee of such students.

Students belonging to BCM Category I and their parents annual income bellow Rs. 2.5 lakh are eligible for fee reimbursement.

Similarly, students belonging to category 2A, 3A, 3B and parents annual income below Rs one lakh income per year are eligible for fee reimbursement.

The State Government has reimbursed fee of 3.33 lakh students joined for engineering, medical and other professional courses.

A total of 66,000 students received scholarship of Rs 1,500 per month for 10 months in a year under the Vidyasriprogramme of the Government, Anjaneya said.