New Delhi: Union Minister for Human Resource Development Prakash Javadekar on Tuesday announced that 10% reservation for the economically backward among upper castes will be extended to private universities as well, triggering confusion among administrators of private universities .
Who will pay students fees, ask institutions as a large number of them have been set up or expanded with loans.
“We will all become like Vijay Mallya”, said one promoter linked to a chain of institutions.
With actual details of implementation not yet clear, private universities believe they will have to write-off the fees from reserved seats.
Students coming in through reservations will not be paying fees.
One major chain reportedly said it takes between Rs 200 crore and Rs 400 crore to set up a university and that the vast majority of private institutions in the country have been financed through loans.
They also spend hefty sums for advertisements and campaign to attract students.
Also, these institutions claiming “world class” facilities pay much higher than regular universities. Some bring academicians from abroad for guest lecturing.