Hyderabad: The state government will file an appeal in the High Court against the fee hike introduced by some engineering colleges in the city in the middle of the current academic year. The colleges secured permission from the High Court to increase the fees after the Admissions and Fee Regulatory Committee (AFRC) rejected their demands.
Following protests by students and parents, the government convened a meeting with the AFRC on Thursday. Deputy CM and education minister Kadiam Srihari said that the government would come to the rescue of the students and take steps to resolve the issue amicably.
The government-prescribed fees, as recommended by the AFRC, for the academic year 2017-18 are Rs 1.13 lakh per year. However, colleges have hiked their fees to Rs 2 lakh per year.
When students and parents protested the hike, colleges said that the hike in fees had been implemented on the basis of the order issued by the High Court. The colleges also said that they had informed the students and parents that there was a case regarding the fees pending in court and that they had taken affidavits from them prior to admission, according to which the parents would have to pay the enhanced fees if the court approved the hike.
Mr Srihari said that the government was not aware of any affidavits. He added that the rules did not permit collection of such affidavits.
“If colleges want to hike fees, they should submit proposals for the next academic year. They cannot effect such hikes in the middle of an academic year. We will file an appeal in the High Court against this,” Mr Srihari said.
He said that the AFRC would determine the fees every three years, and also revise the fee structure to account for inflation within that period. Changes in the fee structure would be announced before the commencement of a new academic year.
He urged colleges to approach the AFRC seeking fee revisions for the next academic year. He said that their requests would be considered based on their audited income and the expenditure mentioned in their financial statements.
