By IANS
New Delhi : The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are set to follow the Indian Institutes of Managements (IIMs) and announce a fee hike soon to meet their fund requirements, a senior government official said Tuesday.
The fees at the seven IITs, currently Rs.25,000 a year or Rs.1,00,000 for the four-year engineering course, are expected to be doubled – that is, Rs.50,000 a year or Rs.200,000 for the four-year course, the official of the human resource development (HRD) ministry said.
An official announcement in this regard is expected soon, the official said.
When contacted, an administrative official of the IIT Delhi said the institutes were forced to increase the fees as they were not getting sufficient funds from the government to meet their requirements.
The IIT official said low budgets affected their research work and other activities, which include sending students and teachers abroad for conferences and seminars.
Although the central government allocated more funds for higher education this year, the IITs have not been given additional funds to meet their requirements. Instead, a huge share of funds has gone for the three upcoming IITs in Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan, said the HRD ministry official.
Earlier, the seven IITs had written to HRD Minister Arjun Singh pointing out the sorry state of affairs, saying many of them were on the verge of bankruptcy.
The IIT Bombay had even noted that it did not have enough money to pay salaries to its staff. Many of these institutions have received notices from municipal agencies and electricity supply companies for not paying the dues.
The IIMs at Ahmedabad and Kozhikode last month announced a hike in their fees.