By Express News Service HYDERABAD: Alleging that the rules prescribed for the setting up of private universities in the State — as per the GO 26 implementing the Telangana Private Universities (Establishment and Regulation) Act 2018 — favour private educational institutions while offering barely any benefits to local students, parents demanded 70 per cent reservation in admission for local candidates. Further stating that the rules were “too liberal”, they demanded another 80 and 100 per cent reservation in teaching and non-teaching posts, respectively, for locals. A roundtable discussion on GO 26 was conducted by the Telangana Parents Association (TPA) here on Friday. The TSPU Act came into force on July 15. Shortly afterwards, on August 20, the State government had also issued a notification pertaining to rules for setting up private universities (PUs). The rules drew flak from academicians. Now, the parents too have criticised the Act, particularly owing to insufficient reservation for local, SC, ST, BC, EWS and women. President of TPA Nagati Narayana said that the rules and regulations proposed by the government under the Act were oversimplified with ample room for turning educational institutions into profit-oriented businesses. “With a mere 25 per cent reservation for local students, the Act is putting them at a disadvantage. Therefore, we demand that 70 per cent of all seats in PUs should be reserved for Telangana students. In addition, the SC, ST, BC, EWS and Women’s Reservation as prescribed by the Constitution should also be implemented,” he said. Parents are further irked by the fact that the rules have omitted significant details such as fixation of fees, courses, and faculty recruitment. TPA secretary P Lakshmiah added that the government must regulate fee of PUs either through TAFRC or any other statutory bodies. “As proposed by the draft National Education Policy 2019, there should be multidisciplinary courses that are useful for employment and social development of the students. The government should not leave this crucial aspect with the PUs,” he said. B Gangadhar of Dalit Shakti said that with 25 per cent local reservation, there was no scope for SC, ST, BC reservation in these institutions.

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