Kadiam Srihari Slams Engineering Colleges' Fee Hike

Expressing displeasure with the failure of the engineering colleges in the state to abide by the state government's decision against fee hikes, Telangana Deputy Chief Minister and its minister in charge of education Kadiam Srihari on Thursday said, "This is a sheer violation of norms as the colleges moved the court to hike the fee in the middle of an academic year."

Speaking at a program of School Leaders of Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBVs), Srihari asked the engineering colleges involved in such "malpractices" to mend their ways.

He said that the government had earlier rejected the colleges' plea to increase the fee structure through a Government Order, and the colleges had then gone to the High Court and gotten an approval.

"They (engineering colleges) can increase the fee by getting approval from the Admissions and Fee Regulatory Committee (AFRC) in the next academic year. It not fair for them to try to get such an order from the courts," the Deputy CM added.

He also said that the state government was planning to file a petition against the High Court directive authorizing the engineering colleges to hike their fees. The matter would be discussed in the meeting of the AFRC, and a decision would be taken on moving the court, he added.

Meanwhile, students of Chaitanya Bharathi Institute of Technology (CBIT) staged a dharna protesting the "exorbitant" fee now being charged by the management.

The annual fee of the B Tech courses has been hiked from Rs 1.3 lakhs to nearly Rs 2 lakhs. Protesting this, the students boycotted their examinations and took out a rally on the campus demanding immediate rollback of the hike.

The college management, realising the possible trouble on the campus, declared Friday and Saturday as holidays for students.

"The students' opposition to the fee hike will be discussed in the board meeting and an appropriate decision will be announced after the college reopens on Monday," the management said.

The CBIT management justified the hike claiming that the amount would be spent on the salaries of the teachers and on providing more facilities on the campus.

The students, however, said that the affidavits showing their agreement to pay the hiked fee were collected from them forcefully.