The Punjab Vidhan Sabha on Wednesday unanimously passed the Punjab Regulation of Fee of Unaided Educational Institutions (Amendment) Bill, 2026, capping the annual fee hike by any school in the state at 5 per cent.The move will benefit 32 lakh students studying in 7,800 private schools across the state and provide major relief to parents burdened by unreasonable fee increases every year. The Bill was tabled by state Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains.The House also passed three Bills paving the way for setting up three digital open universities — Cloud University, MS Digital University and Physicswallah Digital University.“These universities will ensure that our children are prepared for the new world with the necessary skills,” Bains said.Congress MLAs sought more time for Independent MLA Rana Inder Pratap to debate the university Bills, but the Speaker declined. Following this, Congress MLAs and Rana Inder Pratap rushed to the well of the House and raised slogans against the Speaker and the government. Despite their objections, the three Bills were passed. As the protests continued, another Bill seeking amendments to the Punjab Goods and Services Tax Act was also passed. Rana Inder Pratap continued to protest in the well even as Congress MLAs returned to their seats.Speaking on the issue, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann said the state government would cap annual fee hikes, including all fees other than tuition fees, at 5 per cent. “I say with full responsibility that schools which have charged fees in excess of 5 per cent per annum in the last three years will now have to refund the excess amount. I was deeply moved by the death of a young girl in Amritsar who died by suicide when her family could not pay the fees and she was humiliated by the school management,” he said.Drawing a parallel with the previous Congress government, Mann said, “During the Covid pandemic, parents were forced by the then Congress government to pay transportation fees even though children did not attend school.”He added that he would not allow the commercialisation of education and appealed to all MLAs to pass the Bill unanimously.Former education minister and Congress MLA Pargat Singh, however, dismissed the Bill as “old wine in a new bottle”.“Earlier, the fee hike was capped at 8 per cent, now it is 5 per cent. You say one thing in the House and take a different stand in court. When this Bill was challenged, the government told the court it would not apply retrospectively. The education policy should be more holistic and also address faculty recruitment and salaries,” he said.Congress MLA Avtar Henry Jr alleged the Bill was being brought to hide the government’s failure in public school education, where enrolment has dropped by 6 lakh between 2022 and 2026. He also demanded teacher representation on committees formed to regulate fees.Bains said the AAP government believed education was everyone’s right and that the Bill would ensure affordable, quality education for all. “NITI Aayog has recognised the remarkable improvement in primary education. Even the BJP-led Centre has had to acknowledge this. Gurugram, considered the education capital of the neighbouring state whose BJP CM keeps coming to Punjab for support, ranked lower than Patiala on education parameters. In fact, in my own assessment, Patiala ranks lowest among all districts in the state,” he said.