IIT is considering a Rs. 40,000 fee hike. File photo.
Currently tuition fee for UG students is Rs. 50,000 a year
Undergraduate students at the premier Indian Institutes of Technology
could see their annual tuition fees hiked to Rs. 90,000 next year, after
a committee of IIT directors recommended the 80 per cent increase.
Students currently pay a hugely subsidised Rs. 50,000 per year.
A final decision will be taken by the full IIT Council — the institutes’
top decision making body which includes government representatives — on
January 7.
The standing committee of the Council, which includes directors of the
seven older IITs, met in Mumbai on Monday to discuss the proposal to
revise the tuition fees that has been pending for over a year.
The panel also discussed last year’s recommendation by the Anil Kakodkar
Committee for a much steeper fee hike to more than Rs. 2 lakh per year,
in a bid to give the IITs more financial independence from the
government. Given that an empowered task force is now working out the
details to implement the Kakodkar Committee report, Monday’s
recommendations were described as an “interim” measure.
Sources at the meeting indicated that their recommendation of a Rs.
40,000 fee hike may not be applicable to students from socially and
economically weaker sections.
Loan scheme
The IIT Council has already given in-principle approval to the Kakodkar
Committee’s recommendations to be implemented from 2013. A special loan
scheme is being worked out so that students who cannot afford the
increased fees have the option of paying back the extra burden after
they finish their course, and find employment.
The IIT fee structure is not only much lower than that of top private
universities, it is also less than the amount charged by other premier
central government institutions of professional education such as the
Indian Institutes of Management.