5 Fold Hike in IIT Fee Likely!

It's a new wind blowing in the educational environs and this time, it has brought news which is not so good. A committee set up by the government is all set to hike in IIT (Indian Institute Of Technology) fee. The fee in IITs will shoot up five times for B.Tech and M.Tech programmes. Mr. Kakodkar, the chairman of IIT-Mumbai's board of governors, has prepared a comprehensive report based on which the government will decide future course of action.

The report has recommended a hike in tuition fee from Rs 25, 000 to Rs 2-2.5 lakh annually. This fee excludes the cost of hostels and accommodation costs for the students. The committee is of the view that the students willing to pursue courses in these institutes should take higher loans. Committee also suggested that government must make hassle-free provisions for soft loans and scholarships for meritorious students.

Committee also suggested government to cover living expenses and fee of weaker sections with parental income less than Rs 4.5 lakh per annum. Kakodkar's committee also came up with the idea that at most only 52.5% of the undergraduate students will be asked to pay the full fees.

According to the committee ‘fee should be increased to a level where the IITs will be able to manage their courses on their own'. This in turn will help IITs attain not only monetary independence but autonomy in totality.

The committee had presented an interim report about hike in IIT Fee before the IIT Council on January 21, 2011. As per the proposal, tech schools must raise the money to run undergraduate courses completely through tuition fees. The council rejected the proposal and asked the committee to review issues related with hike in IIT Fee and come up with a fresh report.

Source: Prachi Srivastava (Shiksha Team)
Date: 18th May 2011