Children of overseas citizens can now pay tuition fee in rupees

The children of Overseas Citizens of India (OCIs) are no longer required to pay tuition fee and other charges in dollars while taking admissions in higher educational institutions in the country.

The Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry has decided that all educational institutions in the country will accept fees from the children of OCIs in Indian rupees.

"All educational institutions, including technical institutions, must accept fees in Indian rupees from OCI children taking admissions in higher educational institutions in the country," the ministry notified on Friday .

The exchange rate would be the rate of conversion "on the date of payment of fee," the ministry clarified.

This comes as a relief to OCI children who were facing a lot of problems in taking admissions in India. Indian higher educational institutions accept tuition fee and   other charges from OCI students through demand drafts in dollars, though the banks in the country do not issue demand drafts in dollars.

"As several representations were received from parents in this regard, the ministry sought comments from various stakeholders," an official said. A meeting under the chairmanship of the higher education department secretary was recently held to resolve the problem.