Delhi University (DU) students can expect a steep fee hike in the coming years as the University Grants Commission (UGC) is expected to implement the Office Memorandum (OM), issued by the Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance, on January 13, 2017. The OM makes it compulsory for autonomous bodies to generate part of the funds "internally" for implementation of the Seventh Pay Commission.
The OM highlighted that the government's share will not exceed 70 per cent; the rest will have to be generated by the institutes.
The UGC wrote to the heads of DU colleges on Thursday, directing them to calculate their internal resources. It further said overnment-funded institutes, including universities and colleges, "are expected to be financially self-sufficient so as not to cause any extra burden on the Central exchequer".
Many principals, however, rued that the move will lead to a steep hike in fees as government-funded institutes have no other source of income. "Government-funded educational institutes should not be included in this plan as it will ultimately shift the burden to students. That is the only way to generate internal resources for us," PC Tulsian, Principal of Ramjas College, said.
Echoing the sentiment, Aryabhatt College Principal Manoj Sinha said, "Generating 30 per cent of the running cost only through a fee hike is impossible for a fully-funded college like ours." As many as 12 DU colleges are fully funded by the central government.
This year, in the admission form, Ramjas sought details of the fee structure in the last institute that the aspirant had attended. "We aimed to collect data of students coming from privileged backgrounds, to ascertain who could afford the fee hike. We will request the government to make an exception for economically-weaker students," Tulsian said.
Slamming it as a step to 'privatise' and 'commercialise' DU, Rajesh Jha, Professor at Rajdhani College, and a member of the varsity's Executive Council (EC), said, "The move will further widen the existing gap between the privileged and the under-privileged, and will deprive the latter of affordable higher education. It might also lead to student unrest, just like Punjab University witnessed recently."
The issue will be discussed further in the EC meeting, to be held on June 14.
Strapped for pay
Colleges that are fully-funded by the government say they have no other source of income, and it is impossible for them to raise extra funds
