Recommendations for fixing fee for every engineering college have been submitted to the government with the highest fee touching the Rs.1 lakh for some colleges.
“We have submitted the recommendations to the government and it has to take the final decision,” a senior official said. So students are likely to know the fee structure of each college before August 27 so that they can choose the options with the fee in mind.
The fee is likely to be in the band of Rs.75,000 and Rs.1 lakh in a few colleges among the 133 colleges that approached the Supreme Court and between Rs.50,000 and Rs.75,000 in majority of these 133 colleges.
However, students need not worry as the fee will reduce considerably as they go up higher classes since the burden has to be shared by the freshers. It means fee in these colleges will reduce by nearly half when they move to second year and further reduce in the third and final year.
Officials say they had to follow the Supreme Court directives on this issue. Recommendations have been submitted with regard to 234 engineering colleges that have not submitted affidavits to the Admission and Fee Regulation Committee (AFRC) so far also. But officials fear some legal issues cropping up as the government has not officially asked the colleges to submit the affidavits. Officials are in a dilemma whether to extend Rs.35,000 fee to these colleges also or exclude them from reimbursement scheme till they submit the affidavits.
‘Doubtful intentions’
The intention of 234 engineering colleges not submitting the affidavits is also leading to questions like whether they follow the minimum requirements with regard to infrastructure and faculty. Why should the government encourage students to study in such colleges and include them in the fee reimbursement scheme?
“If they are not able to submit even their financial statements how can the government expect decent education from them?” a senior official asked.
