JOIN USStudents already enrolled in IITs to pay hiked fee
General category students who have already enrolled to various under-graduate programmes at the IITs will have to pay Rs 2 lakh per annum tuition fee from the next academic session.
Giving approval to a steep hike in the tuition of the premier technical institutes, the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry has also allowed IITs to collect increased fee from the students already enrolled. “The revised fee structure will also be applicable to students already enrolled to various B Tech programmes at IITs,” official sources in the Ministry told DH.
The Ministry on Friday issued a statement, announcing HRD Minister Smriti Irani’s approval to hike the annual fee at all the IITs from the current Rs 90,000 to Rs 2 lakh per annum, hours after a senior official shared the Ministry’s decision. The Ministry, however, in its note to the press did not mention that the revised fee structure would also be applicable to those already studying at the IITs, besides the new entrants to various B Tech programmes from the next academic session. Being HRD Minister, Irani happens to be chairperson of the IIT council, highest decision-making body of the elite engineering colleges.
The Ministry’s decision drew criticism from the students studying in various IITs as it was for the first time the premier technical institutes would be collecting a revised fee from the existing B Tech students.
Any revision in fee structure remained applicable to only new entrants to the premier technical institutes in past, several students pointed out. In 2013 also, the IIT council increase in tuition fee from Rs 50,000 to Rs 90,000 per annum.
“But, this remained applicable to new batch of students only. Existing students were not made to pay enhanced fee. The HRD Minister’s decision is sheer injustice to us,” Amit (name changed), a second year B-Tech student of IIT-Delhi, told DH.
According to he revised fee structure, a full waiver of tuition fee will be accorded to students from non-reserved category whose annual family income is less than Rs 1 lakh per annum. This will also be applicable to students from below poverty line (BPL) families.
Students from unreserved category with annual family income between Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh will also get some relief as they will be given concession of two thirds of the total annual tuition fee. However, the All India Students Association (AISA) termed the HRD Ministry’s announcement to giving full waiver in tuition fee to economically weaker sections as “mischievously tweaked”.