Raj Assembly witnesses heated row over counselling fees in state funded universities

Jaipur: The Rajasthan Assembly witnessed sharp exchanges during Question Hour Wednesday over the collection of "counselling fees" from private students in state-funded universities. Congress MLA Manish Yadav alleged that three universities — Mohanlal Sukhadia University (Udaipur), Raj Rishi Bhartrihari Matsya University (Alwar), and Rajasthan University (Jaipur) — were charging Rs 1,000 per student, amounting to nearly Rs 240 crore, without providing any counselling services.Raising the issue, Yadav questioned the legality of collecting fees from nearly 24 lakh students. "Neither any counselling session was conducted nor was any counselling centre operational in any of these universities. On what basis are you charging Rs 1,000 per student?" he asked. Alleging misuse of funds, he said, "Money collected in the name of career and subject counselling is being diverted for other purposes. This is nothing short of cheating the students."
Responding to the allegations, Higher Education minister and Deputy Chief minister Prem Chand Bairwa said, "Universities are autonomous institutions. Fees are collected as per legal provisions under the University Act." He added, "The counselling fee was collected since 2018 in accordance with existing statutes."The minister informed the House that the counselling fee forms part of the examination fee. "The amount collected under the examination head is used for examination-related activities in the interest of students. There is no separate separate record maintained exclusively for counselling expenditure," he said.Leader of Opposition Tikaram Jully objected to the minister's reply, alleging contradictions. "This is a betrayal of students. On what basis are you taking Rs 1,000 from each student? The fee must be withdrawn immediately," he said. Bairwa said, "Universities are free to levy fees within the framework of the law."Congress MLA Manish Yadav then sought a clear response from the govt on whether it planned to refund the fees collected from students. When no direct assurance was given, Yadav walked into the well of the House in protest. In response, several ruling party MLAs also rose from their seats, leading to a brief standoff inside the Assembly.Speaker Vasudev Devnani intervened and asked Yadav to return to his seat, ruling that a detailed debate on the issue could not be held during Question Hour.