Intro. (Act No. 15 of 2017

An Act to provide for the regulation of admission and fixation of fee to private medical educational institutions in the State of Kerala and to provide for reservation of seats to students belonging to the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes in medical educational institutions.

Preamble. - Whereas, it is expedient to provide for the regulation of admission and fixation of fee to private medical educational institutions in the State of Kerala and to provide for reservation of seats to students belonging to the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes in medical educational institutions and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto;

Be it enacted in the Sixty-eighth Year of the Republic of India as follows:-

S.1 Short title, extent and commencement. -

(1) This Act may be called the Kerala Medical Education (Regulation and Control of Admission to Private Medical Educational Institutions) Act, 2017.

(2) It extends to the whole of the State of Kerala.

(3) It shall be deemed to have come into force on the 1st day of June, 2017.

S.2 Definitions.

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,-

[(a) "Admission Supervisory Committee" means the Admission Supervisory Committee constituted as per Section 3:]

[(aa)] "appropriate authority" means a Central or State authority established by the Central of the State Government for laying down norms and conditions for ensuring standards of medical education;

(b) "capitation fees" means any amount or thing, by whatever name called, whether in cash or in kind, paid or collected or received directly or indirectly in addition to the fees fixed under this Act;

(c) "centralized counseling" means a common counseling and allotment of seats in colleges through a single window procedure by the Government or by any agency authorized by it for persons who have qualified in the common entrance test, for the purpose of merit based admission to medical colleges or institutions;

The Government shall, by notification in the Gazette, constitute an Admission Supervisory Committee consisting of the following members for the purpose of supervision and issuing guidelines of admission process in the private medical educational institutions, namely: -

Provided that the Chairperson so appointed shall be eligible for the honorarium entitled for one post alone.]

S.4 Term of the [Committees] and conditions of services of the members. -

(1) The term of the members of the [Committees] , other than ex-officio members, shall be three years from the date of publication of the notification constituting the Committee.

(2) The members of [the Committees] shall continue to hold office until [new Committees are] constituted, subject to the provisions of this Act and the rules made thereunder.

(3) The nominated members shall hold office during the pleasure of the Government which shall not exceed three years at a time and shall be eligible for re-appointment:

Provided that a person shall not be appointed as member for more than two terms.

(4) A member nominated to fill a casual vacancy shall continue for the remainder of the term of the member in whose place he is nominated.

(5) A nominated member may resign his office by writing under his hand addressed to the Government but he shall continue his off

S.5 Meeting of the [Committees]

(1) The [Committees] shall meet in such place and time as decided by the Chairperson as and when required.

(2) The Chairperson or in his absence, a member of [the Committee concerned] elected from among the members present at the meeting shall preside over the meeting.

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S.6 Disqualification. -

(1) No person who is associated with any private medical educational institution shall be eligible to be a member of the [Committees].

(2) Government may remove any member, other than ex-officio member, if he,-

(a) is declared as undischarged insolvent;

(b) becomes incapable of continuing as such, due to physical or mental disability;

(c) becomes unsound mind and stands so declared by a court of competent jurisdiction;

(d) has been convicted for an offence, which in the opinion of the Government involves moral turpitude or financial irregularities;

(e) has, in the opinion of the Government, abused his official position so as to render his continuance in office prejudicial to public interest:

Provided that the person shall be given a reasonable opportunity of being heard in the matter.

S.7 Officers and other employees of the [Committees]

(1) The Government shall provide the [Committees] with such officers and employees as may be necessary for the efficient performance of the functions of the [Committees].

(2) The salaries and allowances and the other conditions of service of the officers and other employees appointed for the purpose of the [Committees] shall be such as may be prescribed.

[Provided that the committees shall function with the common office, officers and employees.]

S.8 Powers and functions of the Admission Supervisory Committee.

(1) The Admission Supervisory Committee shall exercise the following powers and perform the following functions, namely: -

(a) on receipt of a complaint regarding the admission made in contravention of the provisions of this Act or the rules made thereunder, to inquire into the admission made by any private medical educational institutions in contravention of such provisions or the collection of fee exceeding the fee determined as per the provisions of this Act or the realisation of capitation fee or the profiteering and cause inspection of the institution for the purpose of making inquiry, on the basis of the said complaint or suo moto;

(b) to take appropriate action, after conducting an inquiry under clause (a), on an inspection report prepared by the department concerned on the direction of the Government or the University concerned or the appropriate authority:

(c) if satisfied that there has been

S.8(a) Powers and functions of the [Fee Regulatory Committee].

(1) The Committee shall exercise the following powers and perform the following functions, namely:-

(a) require a private medical educational institution to furnish, within a specified date, information, documents or records as may be necessary for enabling the [Fee Regulatory Committee] to determine the fee that may be charged by the institution in respect of each medical course, [***];

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(c) hear complaints with regard to admission in contravention of the provisions of this Act or the rules made thereunder either on receipt of a complaint or suo motu and shall,-

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(2) The [Fee Regulatory Committee] shall, for the purpose of making any enquiry under this Act, have all the powers of a civil court under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (Central Act 5 of 1908) while trying a suit in respect of the following matters, namely: -

(a)

S.9 Eligibility for admission. -

(1) The eligibility for admission to a private medical educational institution shall be such as may be notified by the appropriate authority.

(2) Admission to the sanctioned intake of students in an institution shall be strictly on the basis of inter se merit obtained in the common entrance test in such manner as may be prescribed by the Government.

(3) Every admission to private medical educational institution shall be made in accordance with the provisions of this Act and the rules made thereunder and every admission made in contravention thereof shall be void.

S.10 Reservation of seats.

In the admission to private medical educational institutions, other than the minority educational institutions referred to in clause (1) of Article 30 of the Constitution of India, there shall be reservation of seats at the stage of admission for the students belonging to the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes, in such manner as may be prescribed by the Government.

S.11 Factors for determination of fee. -

(1) The [Fee Regulatory Committee] shall determine the fee that may be charged by a private medical educational institution in the manner as may be prescribed, considering the following factors, namely: -

(a) the location of the private medical educational institution;

(b) the nature of the medical course;

(c) the cost of land and building;

(d) the available infrastructure, teaching and non-teaching staff and other equipments;

(e) the expenditure on administration and maintenance of the medical educational institution;

(f) a reasonable surplus required for growth and development of the medical educational institution;

(g) any other relevant factor.

(2) The [Fee Regulatory Committee] shall, before fixing any fee, give the institution a reasonable opportunity of being heard:

S.12 Appeal.

Any person aggrieved by an order of the [Committees], may prefer an appeal, within thirty days from the date of such order, before the High Court.

S.13 Protection of action taken in good faith.

No suit, prosecution or other legal proceeding shall lie against the Government or the officers or employees, or the Chairperson or members of the [Committees] for anything which is done or intended to be done in good faith under this Act.

S.14 Power to remove difficulties. -

(1) If any difficulty arises in giving effect to the provisions of this Act, the Government may, by order published in the Gazette, make such provisions not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act as appear to it to be necessary or expedient for the purpose of removing the difficulty:

Provided that no such order shall be issued after two years from the commencement of this Act.

(2) Every order issued under this section shall be laid before the Legislative Assembly as soon as may be after it is issued.

S.15 Overriding effect of the Act.

The provisions of this Act and the rules made thereunder shall have effect over the provisions of the Kerala Professional Colleges or Institutions (Prohibition of Capitation Fee, Regulation of Admission, Fixation of Non-Exploitation Fee and other Measures to ensure Equity and Excellence in Professional Education) Act, 2006 (19 of 2006) in so far as it is applicable to the private medical educational institutions in the State:

Provided that anything done or deemed to have been done or any action taken or deemed to have been taken under the said Act prior to the date of commencement of this Act shall be continued and maintained under the provisions of that Act and any suit, prosecution or any other legal proceeding so taken under the said Act shall be continued, maintained or dealt with in accordance with the provisions of the said Act as if this Act was not promulgated.

S.16 Power to make Rules. -

(1) The Government may, by notification in the Gazette, make rules for carrying out the provisions of this Act.

(2) In particular, and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing powers, such rules may provide for all or any of the following matters, namely: -

(a) the salary and allowances and other conditions of service of the Chairperson and the members of the [Committees] under sub-section (8) of Section 4;

(b) the salary and allowances and other conditions of service of the staff and employees appointed for the purpose of the [Committees] under sub-section (2) of Section 7;

(c) the eligibility of admission, manner of admission and allocation of seats in private medical educational institutions under sub-section (2) of section 9;

(d) the manner of determination of fee to be charged by a private medical educational institution from the candidates u

S.17 .

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S.18 Repeal and saving. -

(1) The Kerala Medical Education (Regulation and Control of Admission to Private Medical Educational Institutions) Ordinance, 2017 (14 of 2017) is hereby repealed.

(2) Notwithstanding such repeal, anything done or deemed to have been done or any action taken or deemed to have been taken under the said Ordinance shall be deemed to have been done or taken under this Act.

S.19 .

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