The Kerala Assembly on Tuesday passed the Kerala State Private Universities (Establishment and Regulation) Bill, 2025, paving the way for the setting up of private universities in the state nearly 10 years after the previous Congress-led regime proposed the idea.
The Bill would allow private individuals and entities to formally apply to set up educational campuses in the state and is expected to redefine the higher education sector in the state especially amid high outward migration of students from Kerala to foreign countries.
The private universities bill was passed by voice-vote on the last day of the budget session of the Assembly following frenetic discussions and debates on it among the ruling LDF and opposition UDF MLAs.
While the UDF MLAs objected to several provisions in the bill and moved amendments on it, they said the coalition was in favour of the legislation ‘in principle’. The lone voice of dissent in the Assembly who opposed the bill during the voice vote was RMP legislator KK Rema. The bill was moved in the Assembly by higher education minister R Bindu on March 3 and subsequently sent to the subject committee the same day.
The passage of the bill, especially when the CPM-led LDF is in power in the state, is noteworthy because the Left had, for decades, opposed privatisation of the higher education sector in the state. When the idea was first mooted by the Oommen Chandy-led UDF government between 2011 and 2016, the Left parties and its student outfits had carried out protests, claiming that the entry of private universities would commercialise the space and limit opportunities for students from marginalised backgrounds. In fact, in 2016, the resistance to privatisation made headlines when activists of SFI, the student wing of CPM, manhandled TP Sreenivasan, a former diplomat and education expert, who was attending an education meet.
The draft bill, approved by the state cabinet in February this year, set several conditions for private players to enter the space. These included 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.
Such private universities will have all the rights and powers akin to state-run universities, but will not get financial assistance from the State, the chief minister’s office (CMO) said in February.
“The Bill is part of the reforms that we have been implementing in the higher education sector in the state in the last nine years. The Bill has been prepared after listening to suggestions put forward by teachers, students, researchers and other stakeholders. It is a historic piece of legislation that relays the rights of students,” said the higher education minister.
At the same time, Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan said while the UDF was not opposed to private universities entering the state, he highlighted some concerns his party had.
“Ten years have passed since this idea was first raised. Things have changed over this period. Many unaided colleges are shutting down and we have been seeing how several state-run and aided colleges are facing problems in filling seats. So when private universities come in, will students from aided and state-run colleges go there? The situation of such colleges may become weak. It must be examined,” Satheesan said.
On the day the private universities bill was passed, the AISF, student wing of the CPI, carried out protests in Thiruvananthapuram. The police used water cannons to disperse the protesters.