New Delhi, Aug. 27: The Centre has asked states to put forward their suggestions for a new legislation on private colleges following the Supreme Court’s recent order freeing unaided institutions of government-imposed seat reservations.

At a meeting here today, human resource development minister Arjun Singh asked state education ministers to send their suggestions within 15 days so that the government could start working on a new bill.

The Centre wants to bring the bill in the winter session.

The meeting ended within an hour because the ministers said a discussion of any relevance can begin only after they have given their suggestions. “Most ministers felt deliberations on the matter should take place later because the draft bill that was circulated earlier has become redundant in the wake of the recent Supreme Court judgment,” Singh said.

The earlier legislation ? the Private Professional Educational Institutions (Regulation of Admission and Fixation of Fee) Bill ? laid down guidelines on fees and allotment of seats in private colleges that have mushroomed in the last few years. The bill also deals with foreign universities.

The draft was circulated at a meeting of the Central Advisory Board of Education on July 15. The HRD minister has asked the board to give its suggestions on the new legislation and how to undo the apex court order.

A seven-judge bench had on August 12 ruled that neither the Centre nor states could impose seat quotas, including those for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribe students, on private educational institutions that accept no government aid.

After the ruling, parties cutting across political lines demanded a central legislation to defend what they called the concept of social justice. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh informally suggested a constitutional amendment to widen the scope of the Centre’s intervention in private colleges.