MADURAI: After a series of protests, 28 students in government-aided colleges received their Transfer Certificates without having to pay the excess fees asked by the college management. TNIE carried the plight of the students on July 6, 15 and 18, bringing the issue to the notice of higher education department authorities.
All India Students Association (AISA) district secretary R Devaraj, who studied BA Economics in a government-aided college in 2022-23, told TNIE that he paid Rs 7,000 during the first year while the actual fees fixed by the government was just Rs 390 per year. "I had to pay Rs 7,000 for the second year as well. During the third year, we refused to pay the excess fees and staged a protest, following which collegiate education regional joint director R Pon Muthuramalingam and the then district collector Dr S Aneesh Sekhar ordered the college management to return the excess fees to the students," he said, adding that the fee has not yet been returned so far.
He also pointed out that students of History and Computer Science are yet to receive the TCs and that their education will be affected if it was not issued. "Students have got provisional admissions to other government-aided colleges for continuing their PG degree. I lodged a complaint with district collector MS Sangeetha, higher education department officials, and the CM cell. It was only after members of AISA staged the protest and a news article was reported by TNIE that helped Economics students get the TCs. However, the college management mentioned our conduct as satisfactory whereas the conduct of other students was termed good," he added.
Devaraj said a complaint has been lodged with the regional joint director of collegiate education R Pon Muthuramalingam, who assured them to intervene in the issue.