IIT aspirants, brace yourselves for a 5-fold fee

If the government-appointed committee has its way, the fee for IIT courses could be jacked up five times as the panel is of the opinion that the fees should be in proportion to the pay packets they pick up later on.

Arguing that market dynamics should regulate education pattern, the human resource development (HRD) ministry-appointed Anil Kakodkar committee has suggested a five-fold fee hike in IITs for B.tech and M.tech programmes.

Kakodkar is the chairman of IIT-Mumbai’s board of governors and on the basis of his report the government would take a decision.

The report, which has been put out on the human resource development ministry’s website for public opinion, recommends a hike in tuition fee from Rs25,000 annually to Rs2-2.5 lakh.

This excludes the cost of hostels and living costs for the students.

The committee wants students to pursue studies by taking higher loans. It has also suggested government should arrange for more soft loans and scholarships for needy and meritorious students.

“The committee has suggested that the tuition fee should be between Rs2-2.5 lakh per year. This would be reasonable considering the demand for IIT graduates and the salary they get. The average salary of an IIT graduate is over Rs6 lakh per annum,” the committee said.

At present, an IIT students shells out about Rs75,000-1 lakh per year including hostel and other charges.

Out of this, the tuition fee is roughly Rs25,000 in institutes like IIT, Mumbai. The hike would mean it would go up to Rs4-5 lakh per year.

Also, given that IITs have several programmes and cost structures nation-wide, the fees may vary.

“The move will impact students from lower middle income families, those do not wish to take up jobs immediately after B.Tech and want to go for higher studies or civil services,” said Lokesh Anand, a recent IIT-Kharagpur graduate, now working with Proctor and Gamble.

The committee said that the fee charged by the IITs should cover the full operational cost of education, which works out to be roughly 30% of the total current cost of education.

A hassle-free bank loan scheme specific to IIT students too has been proposed. However, it has suggested government to cover fee and living expenses for students from weaker sections and whose parental income is less than Rs4.5 lakh per annum.

The committee said that at most only 52.5% students in the under graduate students will be asked to pay the full fees. The Kakodkar-led
committee said the move will help IITs attain financial independence without which they cannot think of true autonomy.