Nagpur university to reduce exam & college fees for students

NAGPUR: In a major respite to lakhs of Nagpur University (NU) students, its management council on Tuesday took an ‘in-principle’ decision to reduce the examination and college fees in view of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Many student organisations, including ABVP, BJYM and NSUI, had been demanding fees reduction as the students' families faced massive financial constraints. Their activists had even staged protests on the university premises.
TOI was the first to report on the students’ plight and how their parents had either lost their jobs or suffered losses in their businesses due to pandemic-induced lockdown.
“We’ve constituted a committee of council members who would study the situation, frame modalities and submit a detailed report. We’ve given them a deadline of ten days for the task. Based on their recommendations, further decisions would be taken,” pro-vice chancellor Sanjay Dudhe told TOI.
The panel would include senior member Rajesh Bhoyar, commerce dean Sanjay Kavishwar, Milind Barahate and Vishnu Changde, who had first tabled the proposal and followed it up rigorously. He was also part of a delegation led by MLA and city BJP chief Pravin Datke, which had submitted a representation to the pro-VC in this regard on May 21.
The delegation also had the likes of former mayor Sandeep Joshi and Shikshan Manch coordinator Kalpana Pande. Many Senate members — Samay Bansod, Tarzan Gaikwad, Waman Turke, Pravin Udapure, Sameer Parate and others — had also met Dudhe with the same demand.
“After I moved the proposal, there was some opposition initially, particularly from the members representing the affiliated colleges. However, in the end, all agreed to find a middle path to provide respite to the students in this pandemic year,” Changde told TOI.
According to him, the panel wouldn’t face any problem in waiving the examination fees charged by NU, as it would be in their hands, but they were expecting opposition from private colleges on reduction of tuition fees.
“We’re thinking of waiving the entire fee for forthcoming exams, as a one-time concession. As far as reducing college fees is concerned, certain issues cropped up during discussions on how they will manage salaries of their teaching and non-teaching staff along with maintenance of property and premises. It was then decided to devise a formula which would be acceptable to all,” Changde added.
He clarified that the students from backward and other categories receiving scholarship from the government in form of exam and tuition fees wouldn’t be eligible for the concession.
“It was decided to provide discounts only to students who didn’t receive any benefits from the government. We had informed the NU administration and colleges that they aren’t profit-making bodies and must sacrifice to provide some succour to the aggrieved students, many of whom lost their parents to coronavirus,” Changde said.