MUMBAI, May 20 -- More than two decades after the Maharashtra government was directed to introduce legislation to regulate private coaching classes, it is yet to put in place any oversight mechanism for these centres. The matter has assumed urgency after some coaching centres were implicated in the recent NEET scam, where papers for the undergraduate medical entrance exam were leaked. In 2000, an NGO led by Bhagwandas Rayani had filed a petition in the Bombay High Court demanding rules for coaching classes in Maharashtra. The court then directed the state to prepare regulations for private coaching institutes. While the government established a single-member committee to draft rules, these were considered too stringent by many coaching class operators and an impasse was reached. According to Bandopant Bhuyar, spokesperson and vice-president of the state consortium of coaching classes association, the matter was dormant until 2017, when a 12-member committee was formed to study the issue but the draft law it prepared was neither presented before the state cabinet nor the state legislature for approval. Bhuyar pointed out that after the central government issued guidelines for coaching classes in 2024, several states prepared their own rules. However, Maharashtra has still not implemented any law. He said, often, coaching classes take precedence over lectures in college, while in many instances, coaching centres tie up with junior colleges, creating problems in the education system. Sachin Karnavat, reporting trustee of the Maharashtra Class Owners Association, said, "We are ready for regulation, but the rules mentioned in the proposed act should be practical and feasible to implement. In the recent draft, we have objected to some rules, such as compulsory library facilities and area requirements per student. These are difficult to implement in metropolitan cities." He also said fee regulation was not practical, as facilities offered by various institutes vary. "If the act focuses on teachers' qualifications, batch size, and preventing misleading advertisements, which would improve quality, we are ready to support it," said Karnavat. Representatives of coaching classes must be included in the committee formed to frame regulations. "The association has always supported students and is ready to cooperate with the government for regulation," he said. Senior officials from the school education department said plans are afoot to strengthen checks on integrated classes and will make biometric attendance mandatory....