The Kerala Medical Education (Regulation and Control of Admission to Private Medical Educational Institutions) Act, 2017

[Translation in English of “2017-ലലെ കകേരള ലമെഡഡിക്കല്‍ വഡിദദദ്യാഭദദ്യാസസം (സസ്വകേദ്യാരദ ലമെഡഡിക്കല്‍ വഡിദദദ്യാഭദദ്യാസ സദ്യാപനങ്ങളഡികലെക്കുളള പ്രകവശനസം ക്രമെലപ്പെടുത്തലസം നഡിയനഡിക്കലസം) ആകക" published under the authority of the Governor.]

ACT 15 OF 2017 THE KERALA MEDICAL EDUCATION (REGULATION AND CONTROL OF ADMISSION TO PRIVATE MEDICAL EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS) ACT, 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:—

(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.

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 or 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 counselling” means a common counselling 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; (d) “Committees” mean the Admission Supervisory Committee constituted as per section 3 and the Fee Regulatory Committee constituted as per section 3A; (e) “common entrance test” means an entrance test conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education, New Delhi or any agency authorized by Government of India for determination of merit of the candidates; (f) “fee” means all fee including tuition fee and development charges; (fa) “Fee Regulatory Committee” means the Fee Regulatory Committee constituted as per section 3A; (g) “Government” means the Government of Kerala; (h) “management” means any person or body, by whatever name called, managing and controlling the private medical educational institutions; (i) “medical course” means a course of study notified as a medical or paramedical course by the appropriate authority, such as a degree, diploma or certificate, by whatever name called; (j) “medical educational” means education in medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, ayurveda, homoeopathy, siddha, unani, naturopathy, nursing and other medical courses; (k) “minority” means a community defined as minority under clause (f) of section 2 of the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions Act, 2004 (Central Act 2 of 2005); (l) “minority institution” means an institution imparting medical education, established and administered by a minority; (m) “non-resident Indian” shall have the same meaning as assigned to it in clause (e) of section 114C of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (Central Act 43 of 1961); (n) “Other Backward Classes” means the Other Backward Classes notified as such by the State Government as amended from time to time; (o) “prescribed” means prescribed by rules made under this Act; (p) “private medical educational institution” or “institution” means a private aided or private unaided educational institution which is a college, a school, a department or an institution, by whatever name called, imparting medical education, other than those promoted and maintained by the Central Government or State Government, approved or recognized by an appropriate authority, which is affiliated to, or is a constituent unit of a university, established or incorporated by an Act of the State Legislature; (q) “private unaided medical educational institution” means a medical educational institution which is not receiving recurring financial aid or grant-in-aid from any State or Central Government and which is not established or maintained by the Central Government, the State Government or any public body; (r) “reserved seats” means the seats reserved in favour of students belonging to the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes notified by the State Government; (s) “sanctioned intake” means the total number of seats sanctioned by an appropriate authority and notified by the State Government for admitting students in each course of study in a medical educational institution; (t) “Scheduled Castes” means any caste, race or tribe or part of, or group within caste, race or tribe specified as Scheduled Castes with respect to the State of Kerala under Article 341 of the Constitution of India; (u) “Scheduled Tribes” means any tribe or tribal community or part of, or group within such tribe or tribal community specified as Scheduled Tribes with respect to the State of Kerala under Article 342 of the Constitution of India; (v) “State” means the State of Kerala; (w) “University” means a University established under any law made by the Legislature of the State.

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:— (a) A retired judge of High Court - Chairperson (b) Secretary, Health and Family Welfare Department (ex-officio) - Member Secretary (c) Law Secretary (ex-officio) - Member (d) A representative of the National Medical Commission nominated by the Government - Member (e) Commissioner of Entrance Examinations (ex-officio) - Member (f) An educational expert belonging to Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe nominated by the Government in consultation with the Chairperson - Member

The Government shall, by notification in the Gazette, constitute a Fee Regulatory Committee for fixing the fee that may be charged from the students who get admission in private medical educational institutions, consisting of the following members, namely:— (a) A retired judge of High Court - Chairperson (b) Secretary, Health and Family Welfare Department (ex-officio) - Member Secretary (c) A representative of National Medical Commission nominated by the Government - Member (d) One Chartered Accountant nominated by the Government - Member (e) An expert nominated by the Government in consultation with the Chairperson - Member.

The Chairperson of the committees constituted as per section 3 and 3A shall be same Judge and the representative to be nominated to the committees from the National Medical Commission also shall be same person: Provided that the Chairperson so appointed shall be eligible for the honorarium entitled for one post alone.

(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 Govemment 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 office until his resignation is accepted by the Government. (6) No act or proceedings of the Committees shall be deemed to be invalid by reason of any defect or irregularity in their constitution or on the ground of existence of any vacancy in the office of any member. (7) The Committees shall regulate their own procedure for the conduct of their business.

(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. (3) [Sub-section (3) of section 5 omitted by Act 4 of 2019 (w.e.f. 28.06.2019).]

(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 Goverment 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.

(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.

(1) The Admission Supervisory Committee shall excercise 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 suomoto; (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 any violation by such institutions of the provisions of this Act or the rules made thereunder regarding admission, recommend to the Government to take the following actions against such institution, namely:- (i) impose a monitory fine up to Rs. 10 Lakhs on the institution together with interest thereon at the rate of twelve per cent per annum which shall be recovered as if it were an arrear of public revenue due on land; (ii) declare admission made in any or all the seats in an institution, in contravention of the provisions of this Act or the rules made thereunder invalid, and thereupon take necessary action causing the institution to forthwith cancel the admission of such student and the University concerned to cancel the enrolment of such student and cancel his results of examinations concerned in which the student has already appeared; (iii) order the institution to stop admission or reduce the sanctioned intakes in any medical course for such period as it may deem fit; (iv) recommend to the University or the appropriate authority to withdraw the recognition of the institution; (v) any other course of action, as it deems fit. (2) The Admission Supervisory Committee shall ensure that the admission in a private medical educational institution is done in a fair and transparent manner. (3) The Admission Supervisory 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) summoning and enforcing the attendance of any witness and examining him on oath; (b) requiring discovery and production of any document; (c) receiving evidence on affidavit; and (d) issuing commissions for the examination of witnesses and for local inspections.

(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 interse 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.

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.

(1) (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: Provided that no such fee as may be fixed by the Fee Regulatory Committee shall amount to profiteering or commercialization of education.

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.

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.

(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.

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.

(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 under sub-section (1) of section 11; (e) any other matter which is required to be, or may be, prescribed. (3) Every rule made under this Act shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before the Legislative Assembly while it is in session for a total period of fourteen days which may be comprised in one session or in two successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session in which it is so laid or the session immediately following, the Legislative Assembly makes any modification in the rule or decides that the rule should not be made, the rule shall, thereafter, have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be, so however that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule.

(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.