MADURAI
Many aided colleges violate government orders by collecting exorbitant fees for the first term before the start of the academic year, according to R. Murali, State Coordinator of Save Higher Education Movement of Tamil Nadu.
In a press release issued here, he said colleges had been violating the rules and regulations of University Grants Commission, universities and admission guidelines of the State government. Despite complaints to universities about this practice colleges, action had not been taken, he added.
Colleges were expected to display information on availability of seats and fee structure for each course on their websites. This, however, was not complied with by many colleges.
Mr. Murali said that the State had prescribed fees for both government and aided colleges. A fee fixation committee had been constituted under the chairmanship of a retired judge to ascertain the amount for unaided colleges.
The government had fixed a fee of ₹300 for first year BA, B. Com. and BBA courses in government and aided colleges. Fees for the subsequent years would come down. The fee was ₹400-500 for B.Sc. courses, ₹1,000 for PGcourses in Arts stream and ₹1,500 for those in Science stream.
“Many colleges have openly displayed on their website that they collect more than ₹15,000 for the first semester of B.A. courses (aided). Some colleges collect similar amounts without displaying it on the website or prospectus and they do not issue any receipts,” he said.
Similarly, many colleges collected up to ₹300 for application forms while the amount had been fixed at ₹48 for UG courses and ₹58 for PG courses. Though forms should be given free to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe candidates, many colleges continued to profit from them.
Mr. Murali said that colleges must be urged to issue receipts for the fees they collected. The government should advertise the prescribed fee structure of all courses in media to create awareness among the public, he stressed.