PU Senate okays 7.5% hike in fee for self-financed courses

Amarjot Kaur
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, May 26

Flipping hastily through the agenda, Prof Raj Kumar, Vice-Chancellor of Panjab University, gave the go-ahead to the 7.5 per cent fee hike in self-financed courses and 5 per cent in traditional courses at a Senate meeting that was held on the university premises today.

The recommendation of a committee in April last year to increase the fee of foreign/PIO/NRI students by 5 per cent in the next session was also approved. In the coming academic session, the fee of international students has been increased by 10 per cent, as recommended by a panel on March 16 this year. The number of NRI seats has also been increased.

On Friday, a fee rationalisation committee, headed by Prof Ashok Goyal, had resolved to increase the admission fee of those seeking fresh admissions to courses available at the university, while it had decided against any fee hike for the existing students. The decision came in view of Syndicate members’ verdict on the issue of 10 per cent fee hike proposed by a committee in March this year; the committee was in favour of increasing the admission fee of students, who were already enrolled in the PU, by 5 per cent in the coming academic session. Considering the committee’s recommendations, the Syndicate, on May 11, had unanimously opined to form a fee rationalisation committee to iron the creases in the fee hike proposal and to arrive at a logical conclusion.

The fee rationalisation committee had imposed a maximum limit of Rs 7,500 increase in the fee for new admissions in self-financed courses and a subsequent hike of 5 per cent from the next (2010-21) session. In traditional courses, the committee had resolved to increase the admission fee by 5 per cent and set a maximum limit of Rs 500 on admission fee. In order to augment the infrastructure of the traditional departments, the committee proposed Rs 500 as development charges for students. The VC has accepted the proposal offered by the committee. However, it has invited contrasting opinions from several senators.

“Earlier, when students had protested against the fee hike, last year, the Senate had decided to increase the admission fee by not more than 5 per cent. By increasing the fee by 7.5 per cent in self-financed courses, the VC has misled the House,” said Prof Chaman Lal.

In the coming academic session, international students will also have to loosen up their pockets, for a proposal of 10 per cent fee hike in their admission to 33 PU departments/courses/colleges has been accepted by the Senate. About 3.5 per cent NRI seats are now reserved. Ten per cent seats over and above the total number of regular seats are sanctioned in each course for NRI candidates, while there are 5 per cent additional seats for foreign nationals

Fee concession

Adhering to the recommendations of the fee rationalisation committee, the Senate gave the green signal to a concession of about 8 per cent for orphans or children of single parent and 5 per cent for EWS students, along with enhancing the fee concession for sports category students from Rs 10.33 lakh to Rs 11 lakh. The concession for the Student Aid Fund has also been enhanced from Rs 35.49 lakh to Rs 36 lakh. 

Other matters discussed

• Affiliation to DAV Institute of Management
• A separate room for PUCASH
• Revoking FIRs against students
• Removal of barricades at varsity gate & bricks around trees