Steep increase in engineering fees leaves poor, other students jolted, raises pointed questions

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State Education Fees Committee has hiked fees for engineering admissions in the range of Rs 5000-Rs 10000 for different colleges. YCCE in Nagpur Division would now charge Rs 1,05,000. The experts have questioned the decision by attributing statements of RTMNU officials from time to time that when the colleges do not have regular teachers then why the fee hike?

Nagpur News.

A single stroke by State Education Fees Committee may shatter dreams of hundreds of poor students, even other category students, of becoming an Engineer. The Committee has hiked fees for engineering admissions in the range of Rs 5000-Rs 10000 for different colleges. The decision has provided much relief to the colleges that were struggling with losses but at the same time drilled holes to the pockets of parents. However, the decision has also raised many pointed questions after considering no regular teachers in many colleges.

According to the final fee structure of the State Education Fees Committee, the maximum fees would be charged by Yashwantrao Chavan College of Engineering (YCCE) in Nagpur Division. The YCCE will charge Rs 1,05,000 while the minimum fee structure has been that of Gadchiroli-based Namdevrao Pereddiwar College of Engineering. It will charge Rs 48,000.

The Fees Committee has hammered out a formula so that students could be spared of fee hike in the engineering courses and colleges too would not increase the fees. The fees in the around 80 per cent of 60 engineering colleges in the Division has reached the figures between Rs 70,000 and Rs 80,000 while the fees in 10 per cent colleges would be in the range of Rs 85,000 and Rs 90,000. Some colleges would recover more than Rs 1,00,000.

However, the decision of the State Education Fees Committee has taken the officials of Rashtrasant Tukdoji Maharaj Nagpur University (RTMNU) by surprise. The academic experts, too, have been taken aback. Some RTMNU officials, on the condition of anonymity, have said that except some engineering colleges, most of the colleges cared a hoot as far as facilities and job opportunities for the students are concerned. Even then the fee hike raises many an eye brow. The experts have also questioned the decision by attributing statements of RTMNU officials from time to time that when the colleges do not have regular teachers then why the fee hike?