Coming to the rescue of private educational institutions, Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Chani-led Cabinet decided to remove the fee cap for different courses under the SC Post-matric Scholarship Scheme and bring it on par with general category students.
The decision would allow the private educational institutions to get fee reimbursement for the SC students on par with the general category students. Earlier, a fee hike by the Higher Education Department under the scholarship scheme for different self-financed courses had been halted by the Chief Ministers Office after it was found contradictory to the previous instructions on the capping of charges.
Increasing the fee under the self-financed courses means an extra financial burden on the state exchequer, as the charges of the SC students are reimbursed by the government. In the past, the private universities and Joint Association of Colleges had been quoting the fee structure of government and professional universities to seek the revision of fee for self-financed courses.
The Cabinet also deliberated on the hardships faced by SC students. It was highlighted that funding for the scholarship scheme was shared between the Centre and Punjab Government in the ratio of 60:40. However, the Centre stopped giving its share from 2016 onwards. Resultantly, the Cabinet decided that the would bear its liability of 40 per cent amounting to Rs 433.96 crore since 2017-18, to be released in two instalments during the financial years 2021-22 and 2022-23.