'Stick to government fees': Education department directs Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar college

MADURAI: The Regional Joint Director (RJD) of Collegiate Education, P Pon Muthuramalingam, has shot off a letter to the Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar college in Madurai asking its principal to stick to the government fee structure and desist from acting on his own. 

This move comes after two years of continuous protest by students and a section of teachers of the government-aided college. 

Two teachers were physically evicted from the college premises and suspended recently for holding a sit-in protest on the campus. The college has 2,500 students and nearly 20 full-time and part-time faculty. 

Speaking to The New Indian Express, the officer said college principal (in-charge) O Ravi had sent him a letter seeking permission to collect Rs.7,300 as first-year fee and Rs.7,000 for second and third years. He had also sought permission to collect a separate fee for diploma, certificate and spoken English courses from students. The requests, however, have been rejected, the RJD said.  

"A circular has also been sent to the principal to collect only the government-fixed fees and restore the collected funds with Madurai Kamaraj University, the affiliating university, at the earliest. The principal doesn’t have the power to suspend regular teaching staff and he is acting on his own. We are taking steps as per rules to prevent irregularities," the officer said.

Responding to the issue, the principal said the action was initiated against some students and teachers as they provoked students to hold protests against the management. "The teachers can move court if they are aggrieved with my action," he said.
 
“The college fee was last fixed by the government in 1997. All aided colleges collect more fees than what was fixed by the government but complaints have been sent only from our college. It would be difficult to run the college by collecting Rs.625 as a fee per year for the UG course and Rs. 10 as a lab fee. I am going to send a letter to the Directorate of Collegiate Education seeking permission to collect an additional fee. If they don’t agree, I will approach the court," the principal said.