IIT panel recommends raising tuition fee

An IIT panel on Monday recommended raising tuition fee of undergraduate programme from Rs 50,000 to Rs 90,000 per annum. The standing committee of the IIT council, which met in Mumbai, however, decided not to burden students from the weaker sections like STs and OBCs with the fee hike, sources said. [caption id=“attachment_515537” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  AFP[/caption] IIT council, the highest decision making body of these institutes, will take a final call on the recommendations at its meet on January 7, they said. The development comes as an empowered task force is still considering the details for implementing the Kakodkar Committee which had recommended last year a steep hike of Rs 2-2.5 lakh per annum from the existing Rs 50,000. As the task force is in the process of deliberation, sources said raising the fee by Rs 40,000 per annum would be an “interim measure’”. The Kakodkar Committee constituted by the Council of IITs had suggested the four-fold increase in tuition fee to help IITs attain financial independence. The IIT Council had given in principle approval to the recommendation to be implemented from 2013, with the then HRD minister stating that the extra burden would be “paid back” by students once they are employed. A group of directors of IITs, in the meantime, at a meeting in February considered the proposal for tuition fee hike. PTI