JAIPUR: The Bhajan Lal Sharma-led state govt seems to have decided to defy the Union education ministry’s guidelines that bars students under 16 years of age from enrolling in coaching institutes. In the amended draft of The Rajasthan Coaching Centre (Control and Regulation) Bill, 2025, likely to be introduced in the assembly on Wednesday, the state govt has refused to impose the minimum age requirement for students.Central govt’s Jan 2024 guidelines — touted as the first legislation in the country to regulate coaching centres in Kota — mandated that coaching centres cannot enroll students under 16 years, or until they pass secondary school.
The state bill, first tabled in the assembly in March 2025, was referred to a 15-member select committee over objections for its failure to comply with the Union govt’s guidelines. It went through two rounds of checks over six months, but the revised bill was firmed up and submitted to the Speaker’s office on Aug 28, without introducing the provisions for minimum age of enrolment.The revised draft bill has also relaxed penalties for violations making it easy for erring coaching institutes to avoid harsh punishments. Fine for the first offence has been reduced from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 50,000, and from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 2 lakh for repeat offence. The draft bill has also left out of its ambit coaching institutes with fewer than 100 students, exempting thousands of neighbourhood coaching centres.Experts said watering down provisions related to students’ entry age will give a leg up to Kota’s coaching industry, revenues of which have been hit because of a 30-40% drop in enrolments.Reacting to the latest draft, Leader of the Opposition Tikaram Jully accused the state govt of playing into the hands of coaching institutes. “This bill is a draft prepared by coaching operators. By dropping the age cap, CM Bhajan Lal Sharma seems intent on proving PM Modi wrong by not prescribing the age limit instead of protecting students,” Jully said.
