Amid the controversy over the fee cut and autonomy in the Indian Institutes of Management, the government on Monday said all institutions of higher learning and professional education would get back the autonomy and institutional mechanisms would be put in place to provide loans at affordable rates for higher education.

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Apparently referring to the state of affairs in the institutions during the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance rule, President A P J Abdul Kalam said: "My government is aware of the systematic erosion of autonomy of our institutions of repute in recent years."

"My government will ensure that all institutions of higher learning and professional education get back the autonomy that they enjoyed earlier," he said, addressing a joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament.

At the same time, he said, the government would ensure that nobody was denied professional education because he or she was poor.

Apart from increasing the supply of loan scholarships and refinance through banks, the government would put in place institutional mechanisms to provide loans at affordable rates to those who cannot afford the costs of college and university education in science, engineering, medicine and management studies.