Maharashtra: Government to audit 10 per cent institutes overseen by FRA

To bring in more transparency in the higher education fee regulation process, the state higher and technical education department has decided to randomly audit 10 per cent of the total institutes regulated by the Fee Regulatory Authority (FRA) every year.

Even though a formal decision is yet to be made in this regard, Chandrakant Patil, the state higher and technical education minister, and various officials are seriously working on the issue.

"We will randomly pick out 10 per cent of the total FRA-regulated institutes or those against which we have received reports and conducted audits. This will make the process more transparent and there will be accountability," Patil said.

The auditors will examine the institutes' finances and whether they have appropriately regulated various fees.

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Private institutions and universities, which are thriving financially, offer the majority of the required technical and professional educational services. However, they charge fees that are hard for a student from an average family to pay without scholarships. In 2021, the Maharashtra government's FRA had to act decisively in response to the private institutions' soaring tuition fees, capping the amount that is charged as deposits under miscellaneous heads such as club membership and recruitment fees in some cases.

Talking to the media on Thursday, Patil spoke about a slew of measures his department has proposed and which are in the pipeline to improve the system and help the student community.

The minister said the department is working on removing hurdles in the system that are preventing girls from enrolling in higher education, which includes making hostels available on institute premises or arranging for transport from residences to institutes in rural areas.

The department has asked universities to form teams that can visit such areas and convince parents of girl students to enrol them in schools.

According to higher education officials, the department is contemplating capping the fees of deemed universities.

Talking about the lower voter registration among the youth, higher and technical education department officials said that voter registration forms will be distributed when candidates fill up admission forms. The Election Commission is willing to assign their staff at colleges to complete this task, the official said.

"This does not mean we will refuse admission to students (who do not fill the registration forms). However, in my opinion, no youth will say he or she does not wish to become a registered voter if the process is made this easy," Patil said.