Engineering students to be reimbursed extra fees

KEA to publish list of colleges and excess amount they can charge

Students will be reimbursed the amount they have paid over and above the stipulated additional fees that private engineering colleges can charge for the extra facilities.

As soon as engineering aspirants reported to private colleges after securing seats in the admission round of counselling conducted by the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA), they were asked to pay extra fees in addition to the tuition fee fixed by the State Government.

The demand by colleges created problems for scores of students until the Department of Higher Education stepped in, fixing the additional fees to be charged by colleges.

Based on the infrastructure in colleges, the government has fixed three fee slabs — Rs 10,000, Rs 15,000 and Rs 20,000.

Higher Education officials said that a detailed list of fees to be charged by each college would be published on the KEA website www.kea.kar.nic.in on Tuesday.

But if any college has overcharged, students can approach the Karnataka State Professional Colleges’ Admission Monitoring Committee headed by Prof P Venkataramaiah, the former vice-chancellor of Kuvempu University in Shimoga. Students will be reimbursed.

Meanwhile, M K Panduranga Setty, Chairman of Karnataka Unaided Private Engineering Colleges' Association, said the government had already given them the list in question. Colleges would charge extra fees as per the list only, Setty promised.

SJCE confusion

Parents of students who were allotted BE seats at the Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering (SJCE), Mysore, confronted the KEA officials for yet another day and demanded explanation for the confusion over the status of seats.

As the High Court set aside the seat matrix prepared by the government for SJCE, students who secured seats at the institution in question are at sea. The college refused admission to them, saying no seats were left and cited the High Court order.
The government moved the HC on Monday, seeking appropriate directions and submitted that students’ interested be protected.