National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) erupts over fee hike

Students of Kharghar’s National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) on Monday protested against the decision to hike the fees for 2013-14. Similar protests were reported at other 15 NIFT centres in the country. The students planned the two-day protest on Facebook page ‘Protesting NIFT Fees Hike.

“The revised fee structure should have been implemented in the new batch, but the management made it applicable for older batches too. Students say the management imposed around 40% hike. Earlier, I was paying Rs40,000 as tuition fees per semester. Now, I will have to pay Rs75,000 for each semester,” said a third-year student.

The fee hike has thrown the students’ financial planning off track. “I had taken a sponsorship of Rs16 lakh from my guardian in the States. Now, I will have to arrange for another lakh,” said an NRI student.

Even as students demanded a rollback, the director of the institute, Neelima Rani, said the hike is nominal. “The fee hike implemented by the board of governors is a minimum 10%. This was necessary to meet the growing expenses of the institute,” she said.

“The fees charged at NIFT is the lowest compared to other fashion institutes.
This, without compromising in facilities and infrastructure,” Rani said.

She gave a breakup of the revised fees. “The tuition fees for 2012-13 for one semester (six months) for non-NRI students was Rs50,000. For 2013-14, this has been increased by Rs5,000. Director general Prem Gera has highlighted that NIFT does not receive any grant from the government,” Rani said. She didn’t mention the other components in the fee structure. 

@sameerakapoor