Kerala Cabinet Clears Draft Bill to Allow Pvt Universities

The Kerala cabinet on Monday approved the draft bill seeking to allow the setting up of private universities in the state and regulate their functioning, the office of chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said.

- Vishnu Varma

KOCHI:

The draft legislation is expected to be presented in the ongoing budget session of the assembly.

The Kerala State Private Universities Draft Bill 2025 envisages several conditions for the entry of private players into the higher education sector. These include retaining scholarships and fee allowances for students from Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) backgrounds, reservation of 40% of the seats in every course to resident students of the state, following conditions laid down by institutions under the state government and the UGC with regard to appointment of teachers and vice-chancellors, a minimum of 10 acres of land for the headquarters of universities having multi-campus facilities and depositing a corpus fund of ₹25 crore in the treasury, the release said.

The statement from the CM's office underlined that private universities will have all the rights and powers akin to state-run universities, but will not get financial assistance from the state.