PU hikes fee for freshers by 12.5%

Aarti Kapur

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 26

From the next academic session (2017-18), freshers will have to shell out 12.5 per cent more as tuition fee at Panjab University (PU). The Senate today gave the nod to the proposal at a meeting, which was chaired by the PU Vice-Chancellor, Prof Arun Kumar Grover.

The new fee slab, which was approved today, will only be applicable to first-year students enrolled for various courses on the campus. While the fee hike for professional courses is less considering that the students are already paying more for self-financed courses, the major hike in fee has been made for other courses.

The members unanimously approved that from the next session, no Senator will avail TA/DA for his or her visit as a committee member. The VC accepted the proposal and decided that at the next meeting, an agenda would be tabled for seeking the nod of the Senate. 

The House was divided on the fee hike issue and proposed that the university should explore other avenues to generate funds, including increase in consultancy projects, approaching the alumni for financial help, industry partnership and by way of attracting international students on the campus.

VC proposes loan in lieu of scholarship 

The VC proposed that the university should introduce loan in lieu of scholarship in which the university pays for students when funds are required and after the scholarship is received by these students, the money is reimbursed to the authorities. “I was also a beneficiary of this scheme during my college days,” the VC said. 

Varsity redesigns  admission forms

The university has redesigned admission forms for 2017-18. Now, the applicants will have to submit information from where they passed Class XII. Besides, the income certificate of parents will also have to be attached.

Paperless admission 

The PU will have 100 per cent paperless admission for the 2017-18 session, the DUI, Prof Dinesh Gupta, informed the Senate.