Panel proposes hike in IIT fees

The tuition fee at IITs might shoot up by 80 per cent for undergraduate programmes from the next academic year. the hike from Rs 50, 000 to Rs 90, 000 per annum is recommended by an IIT panel. The IIT council, the highest decision making body of these institutes, will take a final call on the recommendations at its meet on January 7. However, it has been decided not to burden students from the weaker sections like STs and OBCs with the fee hike. It is only meant for the general category students.

Last year, former HRD Minister wasn't in favour of a fee hike. He along with all IIT directors had agreed "in principle" on an alternative by which all IIT graduates would have to reimburse their alma mater the expenditure incurred on them after having found a job.

However, now with the HRD ministry witnessing a change in leadership, the recommendation would need to be passed at the meeting of the IIT Council under the chairmanship of the new HRD minister MM Pallam Raju.

The HRD ministry officials agree that there is an immediate need of a fee hike, considering that there hasn’t been any increase at least for the last three years. It is also believed that since the annual budget of the IITs has been consistently increasing (because of inflation) with no corresponding increase in their income, the hike is much needed.

A ministry official informed that "The proposed fee of Rs 90, 000 per annum is still way less than what good private institutes charge today. Moreover, many general category students are also covered under scholarship. So effectively, this hike will only affect 30 per cent of the total students," reported India Today.