PATNA: The new academic session for the engineering aspirants does not seem to
be heralding good news as the National Institute of Technologies (NITs) across
the country have declared almost 100% hike in annual fee. Not lagging behind in
the race, NIT, Patna (NITP), too, has almost doubled its fee to Rs 70,000 per
year from around Rs38,000 last session.
The hike is in line with the
recommendations of a standing committee under the NIT council last year. It had
suggested steep hike in tuition fee for the NITs across the country from the new
academic session. NITP director Asok De told TOI that for the undergraduate and
postgraduate courses such as BTech, MCA and MTech, one will have to pay Rs70,000
for a year whereas it was around Rs38,000 till last year.
This
development has led to resentment among engineering aspirants as well as
parents. Vikas Kumar of Madhubani, who stays in Patna and prepares for entrance
exams, said he aimed at government engineering colleges such as IITs and NITs.
Earlier, his parents had decided against going for education loan. But, now,
they will have to change their decision. "Last year, IITs, too, raised their fee
and now has the NITs. Had the hike been of Rs5,000 or Rs10,000, I could have
avoided a bank loan," said Vikas, son of a trader.
The news comes as a
blow to all those dreaming of a bright future at a low cost. "Government
engineering colleges were the last resorts for people like us who hoped that
their children can also end up working for an MNC and earn handsome salary
without burning holes in our pockets," said Vishwanath Kumar, a garment
shopowner at Mainpura, Patna.
The hike has dealt a severe blow to the
non-reserved category as no changes have been made for students of reserved
category such as SCs and STs. Also, to encourage research activities, the fee
for doctoral programmes at NITP has been waived for scholars of all categories.
"For PhD courses, instead of Rs38,000, one will have to pay only Rs15,000 a
year," said Asok De.
The IITs, too, last year effected a steep hike in
tuition fee for undergraduate programme from Rs50,000 to Rs90,000. According to
De, for the NITs, a fees structure of Rs90,000 was proposed. However, the
committee decided to stick to the figure of Rs70,000.
The Union HRD
ministry issued a directive related to fee enhancement in the NITs on May 5 this
year. However, the fee for MBA and five-year MSc programmes will depend on the
discretion of the NITs concerned.
