HYDERABAD: The decision of the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) to hike the annual fee for undergraduate courses in Indian Institute of Technologies (IITs) from the existing Rs 90,000 to Rs 2 lakh from the upcoming academic session, has come as a major blow to students who aspire to get admission into the premium education institutions in the country. Many students belonging to the middle class section of the society believe that this move would make their IIT dream, even more dearer.
Expressing her concern over the proposal to hike tuition fee, A Nidhi, an IIT aspirant, who is currently into her Intermediate second year, said that the fee hike will curtail the dreams of many aspirants belonging to the middle class.
“The rich can afford it and the poor students are eligible for financial aid from the government. So we, the middle class students, are the ones who will be most affected because of this fee hike,” she opined.
“When the IIT council proposed fee hike last October, I never thought that it would be implemented soon. Now, bank loans are the only options left for us,” rued S Vamsi Krishna, who took a gap year to prepare for IIT exams.
While this fee enhancement means that the rich and middle class students will have to shell out more money, students belonging to families whose annual income is less than Rs 1 lakh will be able to avail 100 per cent fee waiver. Students belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and the differently-abled can also avail fee waiver.
Sharing his view, B Srujan, a B Tech first year student of IIT-Hyderabad said, “I don’t think this fee hike is applicable to us, even if it is, it shouldn’t be a major problem as there are many banks which are ready to give education loans at decent interest rate. As most of the IITians land well paid jobs, I hope there won’t be any problem in repaying loans.”
The decision to hike the fee by over two-fold was taken by the HRD Ministry following a proposal by an IIT panel.
On the other hand, students belonging to economically weaker sections expressed their happiness over the decision to offer 100 per cent fee waiver and termed it as a boon for them.
“This announcement from HRD ministry has come as a boon for us, now without thinking about the educational expenses, I can concentrate completely on my studies,” said Nikhil P, a second year Intermediate student.
According to the HRD ministry officials, an official announcement regarding fee hike will be made on Friday.