Karnataka Chief Minister H.D.Kumaraswamy and private engineering college managements failed to come to a conclusion regarding the fee structure for the 2018-19 academic year, after a meeting on Wednesday. Mr.Kumaraswamy said that the demand of the 30% fee hike by the private engineering colleges cannot be accepted citing a “ steep increase”. Rajkumar Khatri ,Principal secretary of the higher education department was directed by the chief minister to convene another meeting with college managements shortly. Private engineering college fees were last hiked in 2016-17 by 10%, but not in the 2017-18 academic year. M.K. Panduranga Setty, Secretary of the Karnataka Unaided Private Engineering Association, said: “We have asked for a 30% fee hike as we need to increase the salaries of the staff. We do not want to put students and parents in trouble as we will have to bear some losses.” Another association said they were ready for a hike of even 15%. Shafi Ahmed, secretary of the Karnataka Religious and Linguistic Minority Professional Colleges’ Association, said: “We are ready to sign a consensual agreement for even 15%. But, it is difficult to run the colleges without increasing fees.” Mr. Setty also said they wanted the government to reject the recommendation made by the fee regulatory committee, which fixed an 8% hike for undergraduate engineering courses. Reacting to this, Mr. Kumaraswamy said: “We got to know about the report from college managements. We will soon take a decision and even approach the court if needed.”